水蒸汽 (shuǐ zhēng qì) — water vapor, steam | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

water vaporsteam

Easily confused

水蒸气shuǐ zhēng qìlook-alikewater vapor, steam

Examples

，水蒸汽。
Shāo shuǐ de shí hou, guō lǐ huì mào chū shuǐ zhēng qì.
When boiling water, steam comes out of the pot.
水蒸汽。
shuǐ zhēng qì Yù lěng huì biàn chéng xiǎo shuǐ zhū.
Water vapor turns into small water droplets when it meets cold.
水蒸汽。
Gōng chǎng lǐ yǒu hěn duō shuǐ zhēng qì cóng guǎn dào lǐ mào chū lái.
In the factory, a lot of steam comes out of the pipes.

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.

蒸汽steam/vapor

蒸zhēngvapor汽qìsteam

联合Side by side

水 shows it is water, while 蒸 and 汽 together mean vapor or steam.

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.

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

艸艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

烝

烝zhēng蒸zhēng

Same sound today

蒸 pairs 艸 (grass) with 烝, which gives the sound.

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

氵气汽

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

气

Same sound today

The 氵 part is water, and 气 is used for the sound and also means air, so 汽 shows water in an air-like form.

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