等腰 (děng yāo) — isosceles (triangle) | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

isosceles (triangle)

Examples

等腰。
Zhè shì yí gè děng yāo sān jiǎo xíng.
This is an isosceles triangle.
等腰。
děng yāo Sān jiǎo xíng de liǎng gè dǐ jiǎo xiāng děng.
The two base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal.
等腰。
Tā zài hēi bǎn shàng huà le yí gè děng yāo sān jiǎo xíng.
He drew an isosceles triangle on the blackboard.

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.

'等' means equal and '腰' means waist or side, so together they describe a triangle with equal sides.

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.

竹寺等

Meaning part形符xíngfú

竹竹zhúbamboo

Sound part声符shēngfú

寺

寺sì等děng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The top 竹 shows bamboo strips used for writing and sorting; the bottom 寺 once gave the sound, but now sounds different.

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

⺼Written in full as肉ròuflesh

Sound part声符shēngfú

要

要yào腰yāo

Same sound today

The left part ⺼ is flesh; the right part 要 gives the sound.

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