米粒 (mǐ lì) — grain of rice | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

grain of rice

Measure word · 粒

Examples

米粒。
Wǎn lǐ hái yǒu jǐ kē mǐ lì.
There are still a few grains of rice left in the bowl.
米粒。
Tā bù xiǎo xīn bǎ mǐ lì diào zài dì shàng le.
He accidentally dropped a grain of rice on the floor.
米粒，。
Zhè xiē mǐ lì lì lì bǎo mǎn, pǐn zhì hěn hǎo.
These grains of rice are full and plump; the quality is excellent.

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.

米 gives the kind of grain, and 粒 is a small grain, so it names a rice grain.

Characters in this word

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

米 is a picture of rice kernels without husk, with the horizontal stroke as a bamboo sieve. It is unrelated to similar-looking grain characters.

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

米立粒

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

立

立lì粒lì

Same sound today

粒 pairs 米 (rice) with 立, which gives its pronunciation.

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