贮藏室 (zhù cáng shì) — storage room; storeroom

Definition

noun
storage roomstoreroom
Measure word · 间

Examples

  • 贮藏室。
    Wǒ men bǎ jiù jiā jù dōu fàng zài zhù cáng shì lǐ.
    We put all the old furniture in the storage room.
  • 贮藏室，。
    zhù cáng shì De mén suǒ huài le, xū yào huàn yì bǎ xīn de.
    The lock on the storage room door is broken and needs to be replaced with a new one.
  • 贮藏室。
    Dì xià shì yǒu yí gè hěn dà de zhù cáng shì.
    There is a very large storage room in the basement.

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.

贮藏store
贮zhùstore藏cángstore
联合Side by side
室shìroom

贮藏 'store' and 室 'room' build the idea of a room for storing.

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 貯; 贮 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèishellfish
Sound part声符shēngfú
宁
宁níng貯zhù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The etymology describes 貯, not 贮: 貯 combines 貝 (shellfish) with 宁 as a sound part.

Open 贮 →

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
艸艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
臧
臧zāng藏cáng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

藏 is made from 艸 (grass) and 臧, where 臧 gives the sound.

Open 藏 →

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
至
至zhì室shì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

室 puts 宀 (roof) over 至, the spot where someone stops, giving the meaning of a house or residence.

Open 室 →

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