花草 (huā cǎo) — flowers and plants; vegetation | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

flowers and plantsvegetation

Examples

，花草。
Chūn tiān lái le, huā cǎo dōu kāi shǐ shēng zhǎng.
Spring has arrived, and the flowers and plants are starting to grow.
花草。
Tā xǐ huan zài yuàn zi lǐ zhǒng yì xiē huā cǎo.
She likes to plant some flowers and plants in the yard.
花草。
Gōng yuán lǐ de huā cǎo xiū jiǎn dé hěn zhěng qí.
The flowers and plants in the park are trimmed very neatly.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

花huāflowers

花 (flowers) and 草 (grass) together refer to plants and flowers.

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.

艹早草

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

早

早zǎo草cǎo

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

草 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 早, which gives the sound. The form originally referred to another word and was later used for the grass sense.

Appears in

Plants & Flowers

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