蜂巢 (fēng cháo) — (noun) beehive; wasp nest; (noun) honeycomb

Definition

noun
beehivewasp nesthoneycomb
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 蜂巢
    Nà ge yǎng fēng rén cóng shù shàng qǔ xià le fēng cháo.
    The beekeeper took down the beehive from the tree.
  • 蜂巢
    Zhè ge fēng cháo zào xíng fēi cháng jīng zhì, kě yǐ yòng lái zuò zhuāng shì.
    This honeycomb has a very delicate shape and can be used as decoration.
  • 蜂巢
    Tā men zài wū yán xià fā xiàn le yí gè jù dà de fēng cháo, lǐ miàn zhù zhe huáng fēng.
    They found a huge wasp nest under the eaves, with wasps living inside.

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.

A 蜂's 巢 is where bees build their nest, hence beehive or honeycomb.

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
chónginsect
Sound part声符shēngfú
pángfēng
Same sound today

蜂 puts 虫, showing an insect, beside 夆, which gives its sound.

Open 蜂 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

巢 shows a baby bird in a nest on top of a tree.

Open 巢 →
Appears in

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