脊柱 (jǐ zhù) — spinal column, spine | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

spinal columnspine

Measure word · 根

脊柱，。
Tā de jǐ zhù shòu le shāng, xū yào hǎo hǎo xiū xi.
His spine was injured and needs a good rest.
X脊柱。
Yī shēng yòng X guāng jiǎn chá le tā de jǐ zhù.
The doctor examined his spine with an X-ray.
脊柱。
jǐ zhù Zhī chēng zhe zhěng gè shàng bàn shēn.
The spine supports the entire upper body.

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.

脊jǐbackbone

A 柱 'column' formed by the 脊 'backbone'.

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

肉肉ròuflesh

Sound part声符shēngfú

朿

朿cì脊jǐ

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The original drawing of 脊 showed a fish spine; later 肉 (flesh) was added to point to the meaning, while the upper 朿 part supplied the sound.

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

木主柱

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùwood

Sound part声符shēngfú

主

Same sound today

The left part 木 shows that 柱 is connected with wood. The right part 主 gives the pronunciation.

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