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螺旋桨 (luó xuán jiǎng) — propeller

Definition

noun
propeller
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 螺旋桨。
    Zhè jià fēi jī yǒu liǎng gè luó xuán jiǎng.
    This airplane has two propellers.
  • 螺旋桨，。
    Chuán de luó xuán jiǎng huài le, xū yào xiū lǐ.
    The ship's propeller is broken and needs repair.
  • 螺旋桨。
    Wú rén jī shàng de luó xuán jiǎng zhuàn dòng dé hěn kuài.
    The propeller on the drone spins very fast.

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.

螺旋spiral
螺luóspiral shell旋xuántwist
偏正Modifier + head
桨jiǎngblade

螺旋 (spiral) + 桨 (blade) makes a spiral-blade propeller.

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
虫虫chóng
Sound part声符shēngfú
累
累lèi螺luó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

螺 combines 虫, a part associated with creatures, with 累, which gives the sound.

Open 螺 →

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

  • 㫃㫃㫃flag
  • 止止zhǐfoot
  • 〇〇língcircle

旋 combines 㫃 (a flag), 止 (a foot), and 〇 (a circle), and 〇 also gave the sound.

Open 旋 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 桨 →
Appears in
Miscellaneous Objects

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