照片 (zhào piàn) — photograph; picture | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

照片 is specifically a photograph — an image captured by a camera. Unlike 画 (a drawing or painting made by hand) or 图/图片 (any picture or graphic), 照片 always refers to a photo.

noun

photographpicture

Measure word · 张, 套, 幅

Examples

照片。
Zhè zhāng zhào piàn shì wǒ zài gōng yuán pāi de.
This photo was taken by me in the park.
照片？
Nǐ néng gěi wǒ kàn kàn nǐ de zhào piàn ma?
Can you show me your photos?
照片。
Tā shǒu jī lǐ yǒu hěn duō zhào piàn.
He has a lot of photos on his phone.

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.

照zhàophotograph

照 (photographing) and 片 (sheet) combine to mean a sheet produced by taking a photo.

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.

灬昭照

Meaning part形符xíngfú

灬Written in full as火huǒfire

Sound part声符shēngfú

昭

昭zhāo照zhào

Same sound today

照 uses 灬, a bottom form of 火 (fire), plus 昭 for the sound.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 3 500 Most Frequent Chinese Words HSK 2.0 Level 3 1000 Most Frequent Chinese Words Photography & Design 2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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