消音 (xiāo yīn) — noise reduction; silencing; muting

Definition

消音 means 'noise reduction' — the technology or process of removing or dampening sound. It focuses on the technical or functional action of silencing, more specific than the everyday verb 安静.

noun
noise reductionsilencingmuting
Easily confused

Examples

  • 消音，。
    Zhè ge fáng jiān de xiāo yīn xiào guǒ hěn hǎo, wài miàn wán quán tīng bú dào shēng yīn.
    The soundproofing in this room is so good that you can't hear anything from outside.
  • ，消音。
    Shì pín jiǎn jí shí, wǒ yòng le xiāo yīn gōng néng bǎ bèi jǐng yīn yuè qù diào le.
    While editing the video, I used the mute function to remove the background music.
  • 消音，。
    Gōng chǎng ān zhuāng le xiāo yīn shè bèi, yǐ jiǎn shǎo zào yīn wū rǎn.
    The factory installed silencing equipment to reduce noise pollution.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

消xiāoremove
音yīnsound

“消” means remove and “音” means sound, so it names taking away sound.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
肖
肖xiào消xiāo
Same sound today

消 has 氵 (water) beside 肖. The water part connects to putting out or making something vanish, and 肖 gives the sound.

Open 消 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

音 adds a short stroke that seals the mouth-like part, showing a covered or muffled sound rather than speech.

Open 音 →

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