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胎儿 (tāi ér) — fetus, embryo, unborn child

Definition

胎儿 (tāi ér) refers specifically to a developing human in the later stages before birth. For an early-stage embryo use 胚胎, which covers the earliest weeks across species; 胎 alone also means 'fetus' but mainly as a bound morpheme or classifier.

noun
fetusembryounborn child
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 胎儿。
    Yī shēng jiàn yì tā dìng qī jiǎn chá tāi ér de fā yù qíng kuàng.
    The doctor recommended that she regularly check the fetus's development.
  • 胎儿。
    tāi ér Zài mǔ tǐ nèi tōng guò qí dài huò qǔ yíng yǎng.
    The fetus obtains nutrients through the umbilical cord inside the mother's body.
  • 胎儿。
    Xī yān duì tāi ér de jiàn kāng yǒu yán zhòng yǐng xiǎng.
    Smoking has a serious impact on the health of the fetus.

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.

胎tāifetus
儿érchild

胎 gives the idea of an unborn being and 儿 that of a child, together meaning fetus.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺼Written in full as肉ròu
Sound part声符shēngfú
台
台tái胎tāi
Same sound today

胎 is formed from ⺼ (written in full as 肉) and 台, which gives the sound.

Open 胎 →

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

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Open 儿 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Life Stages & Age

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