水银 (shuǐ yín) — mercury (the metallic element); (chemistry) ama… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

mercury (the metallic element)(chemistry) amalgam

Examples

水银。
Wēn dù jì lǐ zhuāng de tōng cháng shì shuǐ yín.
Thermometers are usually filled with mercury.
水银，。
shuǐ yín Shì yì zhǒng yè tǐ jīn shǔ, yǒu jù dú.
Mercury is a liquid metal that is highly toxic.
。
Yá kē yī shēng yǒu shí huì yòng shuǐ yín hé jīn bǔ yá.
Dentists sometimes use amalgam fillings to repair teeth.

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 (liquid) and 银 (silver) together name the liquid metal mercury.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 銀; 银 is its simplified writing.

金艮銀

Meaning part形符xíngfú

金金jīnmetal

Sound part声符shēngfú

艮

艮gèn銀yín

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 銀 has 金, meaning metal, and 艮, used for the sound; the simplified 银 is a shorthand.

Appears in

Physics & Chemistry

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