衣箱 (yī xiāng) — suitcase; trunk; chest

Definition

noun
suitcasetrunkchest
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 衣箱。
    Wǒ bǎ yī fu dōu fàng jìn yī xiāng lǐ le.
    I put all the clothes into the suitcase.
  • 。
    Tā káng zhe yí gè dà yī xiāng zǒu jìn le fáng jiān.
    He carried a large trunk into the room.
  • 衣箱。
    Zhè ge yī xiāng shì zǔ fù liú xià lái de gǔ dǒng.
    This chest is an antique handed down by my grandfather.

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.

衣yīclothes
箱xiāngbox

衣 and 箱 make a box for clothes, hence a suitcase or trunk.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 衣 comes from an outline of the chest and upper clothing.

Open 衣 →

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
𥫗Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
相
相xiāng箱xiāng
Same sound today

箱 combines 竹, showing bamboo, with 相 as a sound part, to write a bamboo box or case.

Open 箱 →

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