甲板 (jiǎ bǎn) — deck (of a ship) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

deck (of a ship)

Measure word · 块

Examples

甲板。
Shuǐ shǒu men zhèng zài qīng sǎo jiǎ bǎn.
The sailors are cleaning the deck.
甲板。
Chuán shàng de jiǎ bǎn fēi cháng kuān chang.
The deck on the ship is very spacious.
甲板。
Lǚ kè men zài jiǎ bǎn shàng shài tài yáng.
The passengers are sunbathing on the deck.

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.

“甲” means shell and “板” means board, giving the ship's deck.

Characters in this word

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

甲 is drawn as a hard protective shell, carapace, or scales of an animal, or as armor made of connected plates.

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

木反板

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

反

反fǎn板bǎn

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

板 pairs 木 (tree) with 反 as a sound part.

Appears in

Boats & Water Travel

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