美洲 (Měi zhōu) — the Americas (North and South America)

Definition

noun
the Americas (North and South America)

Examples

  • 美洲
    Bā ná mǎ yùn hé lián jiē le Měi zhōu nán běi de jiāo tōng.
    The Panama Canal connects transportation between north and south in the Americas.
  • 美洲
    Hěn duō ōu zhōu rén céng jīng yí mín dào Měi zhōu.
    Many Europeans once immigrated to the Americas.
  • 美洲
    Měi zhōu De shēng tài xì tǒng zhōng yōng yǒu duō zhǒng qì hòu lèi xíng.
    The ecosystems of the Americas include many types of climates.

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.

měiAmerica
zhōucontinent

美 names America and 洲 marks it as a continent, together denoting the Americas.

Characters in this word

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

美 shows 大, a person, wearing 羊, a headdress of feathers or ram's horn.

Open 美 →

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
shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
zhōuzhōu
Same sound today

洲 is built from 水 (water) and 州, which gives the sound.

Open 洲 →

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