盘尼西林 (pán ní xī lín) — penicillin

Definition

noun

penicillin

盘尼西林。
Yī shēng gěi tā kāi le pán ní xī lín.
The doctor prescribed him penicillin.
盘尼西林。
pán ní xī lín Shì yì zhǒng kàng shēng sù.
Penicillin is a type of antibiotic.
盘尼西林。
Tā duì pán ní xī lín guò mǐn.
He is allergic to penicillin.

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

The characters carry no meaning of their own here; the word spells penicillin.

Sound-only characters

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 盤; 盘 is its simplified writing.

般皿盤

Meaning part形符xíngfú

皿皿mǐn

Sound part声符shēngfú

般

Same sound today

The traditional form 盤 pairs 般, which gives the sound, with 皿, a vessel. This note is about 盤, not the simplified 盘.

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

The shape draws one person sitting on or leaning against another person, giving the sense of stopping close to someone.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

木木林

林 is made of two 木 (tree) placed side by side, showing many trees together, hence a forest.