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透明 (tòu míng) — transparent (allowing light to pass through); transparent, open to public scrutiny (figurative)

Definition

Means literally 'allowing light through' (透明玻璃) and figuratively 'open to scrutiny' (透明财务). 透 alone covers the verb sense 'to penetrate/seep'; 阳光 is unrelated (sunshine).

adjective
transparent (allowing light to pass through)transparentopen to public scrutiny (figurative)

Examples

  • 透明，。
    Zhè zhǒng sù liào shì tòu míng de, kě yǐ kàn jiàn lǐ miàn de dōng xī.
    This kind of plastic is transparent; you can see what's inside.
  • 透明。
    Gōng sī cái wù bào gào bì xū bǎo chí tòu míng.
    The company's financial reports must remain transparent.
  • 透明，。
    Tā de jiě shì bú gòu tòu míng, dà jiā dōu bù xiāng xìn.
    His explanation wasn't transparent enough; nobody believed it.

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.

透tòuthrough
明míngclear

透 describes light passing through, and 明 gives clarity, together meaning transparent.

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
辵辵chuòwalking
Sound part声符shēngfú
秀
秀xiù透tòu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape 透 has 辵, a walking part, and 秀, which provides the sound.

Open 透 →

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

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5Appearance

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