瞳孔 (tóng kǒng) — pupil (of the eye) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

pupil (of the eye)

Measure word · 个

Examples

瞳孔。
Yī shēng jiǎn chá le wǒ de tóng kǒng.
The doctor examined my pupils.
，瞳孔。
Guāng xiàn tài qiáng de shí hou, tóng kǒng huì biàn xiǎo.
When the light is too strong, the pupil becomes smaller.
瞳孔。
Tā de tóng kǒng zài dēng guāng xià xiǎn de hěn dà.
Her pupils look very large under the light.

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.

瞳 names the pupil and 孔 names a hole, so the word pictures the pupil as a hole in the eye.

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.

目童瞳

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

童

童tóng瞳tóng

Same sound today

瞳 is made of 目 (eye) plus 童, which gives the sound.

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

丿丿piěopening
子子zǐchild

孔 pairs 丿 (an opening) with 子 (a child), showing an opening in a newborn's skull.

Appears in

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