瓷砖 (cí zhuān) — ceramic tile

Definition

noun
ceramic tile
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 瓷砖。
    Chú fáng de cí zhuān hěn hǎo cā.
    The kitchen tiles are easy to clean.
  • 瓷砖。
    Wǒ jiā kè tīng pù le bái sè cí zhuān.
    My living room has white tiles laid.
  • 瓷砖。
    Tā qù jiàn cái shì chǎng mǎi le sān bǎi kuài cí zhuān.
    He went to the building materials market and bought three hundred tiles.

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.

瓷cíceramic
砖zhuānbrick

瓷 names ceramic and 砖 names brick, together giving a hard flat tile.

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
瓦瓦wǎearthenware
Sound part声符shēngfú
次
次cì瓷cí
Same sound today

瓷 is built from 次, giving its sound, and 瓦, meaning earthenware.

Open 瓷 →

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 磚; 砖 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
石石shírock
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān磚zhuān
Same sound today

The traditional form 磚 uses 石 (rock) for the meaning and 專 for the sound; the simplified 砖 is a shorthand, so its right side is not the original part.

Open 砖 →
Appears in
Materials & Substances

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