汽油 (qì yóu) — gasoline | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Gasoline for cars (the refined fuel you pump at the 加油站). Compare 石油 (raw crude oil) and 柴油 (diesel, for trucks/machinery).

noun

gasoline

Examples

汽油。
Wǒ de chē xū yào jiā qì yóu.
My car needs to fill up with gasoline.
汽油。
Zuì jìn qì yóu de jià gé yòu zhǎng le.
The price of gasoline has gone up again recently.
汽油。
Zhè liàng chē hěn shěng qì yóu.
This car is very fuel-efficient (saves gasoline).

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.

汽 and 油 combine to mean an oil that vaporizes.

Characters in this word

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.

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

氵由油

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

由

由yóu油yóu

Same sound today

油 is built from 氵, a water part, and 由, which supplies the sound.

Appears in

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