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生命体 (shēng mìng tī) — living organism, life form

Definition

noun
living organismlife form
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 生命体。
    Dì qiú shàng de shēng mìng tī zhǒng lèi fēi cháng duō.
    There are many kinds of living organisms on Earth.
  • 生命体。
    Kē xué jiā zhèng zài yán jiū zhè zhǒng xīn de shēng mìng tī.
    Scientists are studying this new life form.
  • 生命体。
    Zài huǒ xīng shàng hái méi yǒu fā xiàn shēng mìng tī.
    No life forms have been discovered on Mars yet.

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.

生命life
生shēnglife命mìnglife
联合Coordinate
体tǐbody/entity

生 and 命 both mean life, and 体 gives the sense of a body or entity, yielding a living form.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng命mìng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

命 combines 口, a mouth, with 令, which gives the sound.

Open 命 →

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 體; 体 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
骨骨gǔbone
Sound part声符shēngfú
豊
豊lǐ體tǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 體 pairs 骨 (bone) with 豊 as a sound part; this note is about 體, not about the parts of 体.

Open 体 →
Appears in
Biology

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