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蚁后 (yǐ hòu) — queen (of an ant colony)

Definition

noun
queen (of an ant colony)
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 蚁后。
    yǐ hòu Shì mǎ yǐ qún zhōng zuì zhòng yào de yì zhī.
    The queen is the most important one in the ant colony.
  • 蚁后。
    Zhè zhī yǐ hòu yǐ jīng huó le hǎo jǐ nián le.
    This queen has been alive for several years already.
  • 蚁后。
    Gōng yǐ měi tiān dōu huì gěi yǐ hòu zhǎo shí wù.
    Worker ants find food for the queen every day.

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.

蚁yǐant
后hòuqueen

蚁 names the ant and 后 names the queen, so the word means the queen of an ant colony.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 蟻; 蚁 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
虫虫chónginsect
Sound part声符shēngfú
義
義yì蟻yǐ
Same sound today

The traditional form 蟻 pairs 虫 (insect) with 義 as a sound part; the simplified 蚁 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 蚁 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 後; 后 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 後 showed 夊 (foot) bound by 幺 (thread), a foot caught by a rope and lagging behind; the simplified 后 is a later abbreviation, and 后 also has a different meaning.

Open 后 →
Appears in
Insects

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