花瓣 (huā bàn) — petal | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

花瓣 is just one petal — a single piece of a flower, not the whole bloom (花朵) and not the unopened bud (花蕾). Counted with 片.

noun

petal

Measure word · 片

Examples

，花瓣。
Wēi fēng chuī guò, yí piàn huā bàn piāo luò xià lái.
A petal drifted down as a gentle wind blew.
花瓣，。
Tā zhāi xià yí piàn huā bàn, jiá zài shū lǐ zuò shū qiān.
She picked a petal and pressed it in a book as a bookmark.
花瓣、。
huā bàn Yǒu bái sè, fěn sè hé hóng sè de.
Petals come in white, pink, and red.

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.

瓣bànsegment

'花' specifies the flower, and '瓣' names the segment, together forming a petal.

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.

艹化花

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

化

Same sound today

花 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 化, which gives the sound.

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

瓜瓜guāmelon

Sound part声符shēngfú

辡

辡biàn瓣bàn(r)

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 瓣, 瓜 is a melon and 辡 gives the sound; the note describes it as melon seeds.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Plants & Flowers

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