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温床 (wēn chuáng) — (agriculture) hotbed, a heated bed for raising seedlings; (figurative) breeding ground, place where something (esp. negative) flourishes

Definition

Literally a 'warm bed' for seedlings; figuratively, the conditions that let something (usually bad) grow and spread. The figurative sense is the one learners will meet most often.

noun
(agriculture) hotbed, a heated bed for raising seedlings(figurative) breeding ground, place where something (esp. negative) flourishes
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 温床。
    Nóng mín zài wēn chuáng shàng péi yù shū cài yòu miáo.
    Farmers grow vegetable seedlings in hotbeds.
  • 温床。
    Fǔ bài shì shè huì dòng dàng de wēn chuáng.
    Corruption is a breeding ground for social unrest.
  • 温床。
    Zhè zhǒng huán jìng chéng le fàn zuì de wēn chuáng.
    This kind of environment becomes a hotbed of crime.

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.

温wēnwarm
床chuángbed

温 means warm, and 床 is a bed, so it is a heated bed for seedlings, hence a breeding ground.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 溫; 温 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 溫 is based on an older form 𥁕, which drew a person bathing in a container full of warm water. The simplified 温 is a later variant.

Open 温 →

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

The 床 shape combines 广, a house, and 木, tree, to show a wooden bed inside a house.

Open 床 →
Appears in
Agriculture & Farming

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