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猎户 (liè hù) — hunter; Orion (constellation)

Definition

Literary/classical word for 'hunter', now most often used as part of 猎户座 (Orion). In everyday speech 'hunter' is 猎人.

noun
hunterOrion (constellation)

Examples

  • 猎户。
    Tā shì cūn lǐ de liè hù.
    He is the hunter in the village.
  • 。
    Wǎn shàng néng kàn jiàn liè hù zuò.
    At night you can see Orion.
  • 猎户。
    Yé ye yǐ qián shì yí gè liè hù.
    Grandfather used to be a hunter.

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.

猎lièhunt
户hùhousehold

猎 (hunt) describes the 户 (household/person), originally a hunting household, hence a hunter.

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
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
昔
昔xī猎liè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 猎, the left part 犬 means dog and the right part 昔 provides the sound.

Open 猎 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 戶; 户 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 戶 is a picture of half of a gate. The simplified 户 is a later shorthand, so its shape should not be read as the original parts.

Open 户 →
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