维生素 (wéi shēng sù) — vitamin | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

vitamin

维生素。
Měi tiān chī shuǐ guǒ néng bǔ chōng wéi shēng sù.
Eating fruit every day can supplement vitamins.
维生素。
Zhè zhǒng shū cài hán yǒu fēng fù de wéi shēng sù.
This kind of vegetable is rich in vitamins.
维生素。
Yī shēng jiàn yì wǒ duō chī hán wéi shēng sù de shí wù.
The doctor advised me to eat more foods containing vitamins.

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.

维生maintain life

动宾Verb + object

素sùsubstance

维生 means maintain life, and 素 means substance, giving a substance that sustains life.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 維; 维 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìthread

Sound part声符shēngfú

唯

Same sound today

In the traditional form 維, 糸 marks a thread meaning and 唯 provides the sound; the simplified 维 is a later shortened shape.

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

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

The shape of 素 came from a picture of hands braiding thread.

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