钨 (wū) — tungsten
Definition
noun
tungsten
Easily confused
- 呜wūlook-alike(onomatopoeia) sound of a horn, whistle, or siren
- 屋wūsound-alike(bound form) house; room (used only in compound words)
- 坞wùlook-alike(bound form) dock, shipyard
- 於wūsound-alike(surname) Wū
- 乌wūsound-alikecrow (in compounds such as 乌鸦)
- 巫wūsound-alikeshaman, witch (used as a bound form in compounds)
Examples
- 钨。wū Shì yì zhǒng zhòng yào de jīn shǔ yuán sù.Tungsten is an important metal element.
- 钨。Dēng pào lǐ de dēng sī tōng cháng shì yòng wū zuò de.The filament in a light bulb is usually made of tungsten.
- 钨W。wū De huà xué fú hào shì W.The chemical symbol for tungsten is W.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 鎢; 钨 is its simplified writing.
Sound part声符shēngfú
烏
烏wū鎢wū
Same sound today
The traditional form 鎢 pairs 金 (metal) with 烏 as a sound part; the simplified 钨 is a shorthand and its right side is not a sound part.
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