火炮 (huǒ pào) — (military) cannon, artillery piece, gun | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

(military) cannonartillery piecegun

Measure word · 门

Examples

火炮。
Zhè zhǒng huǒ pào de yǒu xiào shè chéng hěn yuǎn.
This type of artillery piece has a very long effective range.
火炮。
Shì bīng men zhèng zài cāo zuò yì mén huǒ pào.
The soldiers are operating a cannon.
火炮。
Zhàn chǎng shàng xiǎng qǐ le huǒ pào de hōng míng shēng.
The roar of the artillery sounded on the battlefield.

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.

火 and 炮 combine to mean a cannon associated with fire, especially gunpowder.

Characters in this word

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

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

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

火包炮

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

包

包bāo炮pào

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

炮 combines 火 and 包; 包 supplies the sound.

Appears in

Military & Defense

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