茶色 (chá sè) — dark brown | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literally 'tea color' — a warm, dark brown shade. As a color noun, modify with 的 before a noun (茶色的头发).

noun

dark brown

Examples

茶色。
Tā chuān le yí jiàn chá sè de dà yī.
She wore a dark brown coat.
茶色。
Zhè zhāng chá sè de zhuō zi kàn qǐ lái hěn wěn zhòng.
This dark brown table looks very steady.
茶色，。
Tā rǎn le chá sè de tóu fa, xiǎn de hěn chéng shú.
He dyed his hair dark brown, which makes him look mature.

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.

色sècolour

茶 “tea” and 色 “colour” combine for the brown colour of tea.

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

艹Written in full as艸cǎo

Sound part声符shēngfú

余

余yú茶chá

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

In 茶, the 艹 part marks a plant, and the 余 part gives the sound.

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

爪爪zhuǎclaw; hand
卩卩jiékneeling person

色 pairs 爪 (a hand) with 卩 (a kneeling person), showing a hand pressing down on the kneeling person.

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