潮水 (cháo shuǐ) — tide | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

潮水 specifically means the rising and falling water of the tide (潮) itself. 潮流 also means 'tide/current of water' but more often refers to a trend or fashion.

noun

tide

Examples

潮水，。
cháo shuǐ Zhǎng dé hěn gāo, bǎ àn biān de shí tou dōu yān mò le.
The tide rose so high that it submerged the rocks on the shore.
潮水，。
Tā de xīn qíng jiù xiàng cháo shuǐ yí yàng, shí gāo shí dī.
His mood is like the tide, now high now low.
，潮水。
Měi nián xià jì, zhè lǐ de cháo shuǐ tè bié dà.
Every summer, the tide here is particularly strong.

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.

潮 names the tide, and 水 names the water, giving the sense of the moving water of the tide.

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.

氵朝潮

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

朝

朝cháo潮cháo

Same sound today

潮 has 氵, the water form 水, on the left to show a water connection, with 朝 on the right giving the sound.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Geography & Landforms

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