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臭味 (chòu wèi) — foul smell, stink

Definition

noun
foul smellstink
Measure word · 股

Examples

  • 臭味。
    Zhè ge fáng jiān yǒu chòu wèi.
    This room has a foul smell.
  • 臭味。
    Tā wén dào le lā jī de chòu wèi.
    He smelled the stink of the garbage.
  • 臭味。
    Qǐng bǎ zhè chòu wèi qīng lǐ gān jìng.
    Please clean up this stink.

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.

臭chòufoul
味wèismell

The smell named by 味 is characterized as 臭.

Characters in this word

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

臭 combines 自 (nose) and 犬 (dog), referring to a dog's strong sense of smell; it originally meant 'to smell'.

Open 臭 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
未
未wèi味wèi
Same sound today

味 combines 口 (mouth) with 未, which gives the sound wèi; the mouth part relates to taste.

Open 味 →
Appears in
Senses

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