脊椎 (jǐ zhuī) — vertebra; spine; backbone

Definition

noun

vertebraspinebackbone

Measure word · 节

脊椎。
Yī shēng shuō wǒ jǐ zhuī yǒu xiē wèn tí.
The doctor said I have some problems with my spine.
脊椎。
Rén lèi de jǐ zhuī yóu duō kuài gǔ tou zǔ chéng.
The human spine is made up of many bones.
、。
Yú, niǎo hé bǔ rǔ dòng wù dōu shì jǐ zhuī dòng wù.
Fish, birds, and mammals are all vertebrates.

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 means spine and 椎 means vertebra; together they name the bones of the 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.

木隹椎

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

隹

隹zhuī椎zhuī

Same sound today

椎 combines 木 (tree) with 隹, which gives the sound zhuī; the idea is a piece of wood used to smash things, a hammer or mallet.

Appears in