适配器 (shì pèi qì) — adapter (device)

Definition

noun
adapter (device)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 适配器。
    Zhè ge shì pèi qì kě yǐ gěi wǒ de bǐ jì běn diàn nǎo chōng diàn.
    This adapter can charge my laptop.
  • 适配器。
    Nǐ qù guó wài lǚ xíng shí bié wàng le dài yí gè diàn yuán shì pèi qì.
    Don't forget to bring a power adapter when you travel abroad.
  • 适配器USBHDMI。
    Zhè ge shì pèi qì shì USB zhuǎn HDMI de.
    This adapter converts USB to HDMI.

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.

适配adapt or match
适shìfit配pèimatch
联合Side by side
器qìdevice

适配 means to match or adapt, and 器 names a device; together it is a device that adapts.

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 適; 适 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
啻
啻chì適shì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 適 pairs 辶 (walking) with a sound part; its inner part was originally 啻 and was stylized into 啇. The simplified 适 is a later variant.

Open 适 →

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

  • 酉酉yǒualcohol vessel
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

配 is formed by putting 酉, an alcohol vessel, next to 卩, a kneeling person. The reference gives these two parts, but not the reason they combine.

Open 配 →

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

The origin of 器 is uncertain; one traditional account reads the whole shape as a scene of guarding over four vessels.

Open 器 →

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