深色 (shēn sè) — dark color | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

“深色” means dark color (clothing, furniture, paint, etc.). The opposite is 浅色 (light color).

noun

dark color

Examples

深色。
Tā xǐ huan chuān shēn sè de yī fu.
She likes to wear clothes of dark color.
深色。
Zhè fú huà de shēn sè bù fen huà dé hěn xì zhì.
The dark color parts of this painting are painted very meticulously.
深色。
Zhè jiàn jiā jù de shēn sè hé fáng jiān hěn pèi.
The dark color of this furniture matches the room well.

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.

深 dark and 色 color combine to mean a color of dark shade.

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

𥥍

𥥍𥥍深shēn

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

深 is built from 氵, the side form of 水 “water”, and 𥥍, which supplies the sound.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

爪爪zhuǎclaw; hand
卩卩jiékneeling person

色 pairs 爪 (a hand) with 卩 (a kneeling person), showing a hand pressing down on the kneeling person.

Appears in

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