水池 (shuǐ chí) — (noun) pond, pool, cistern; (noun) sink, basin

Definition

noun
pondpoolcisternsinkbasin
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 水池
    Chú fáng lǐ de shuǐ chí hěn gān jìng.
    The sink in the kitchen is very clean.
  • 水池
    Gōng yuán lǐ yǒu yí gè rén gōng shuǐ chí, lǐ miàn yǎng le hěn duō yú.
    There is a man-made pond in the park with many fish in it.
  • 水池
    Zhè ge shuǐ chí de shuǐ tài shēn le, xiǎo xīn bié diào jìn qù.
    The water in this pool is too deep; be careful not to fall in.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

水 means water, 池 means pool; together they name a pool holding water.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
Written in full asshuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
chí
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

池 pairs 氵 (water) with 也, which provides the sound.

Open 池 →

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