铝土 (lǚ tǔ) — bauxite; aluminum ore | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

bauxitealuminum ore

铝土。
lǚ tǔ Shì tí liàn lǚ de zhòng yào yuán liào.
Bauxite is an important raw material for extracting aluminum.
铝土。
Zhè ge dì qū yǒu fēng fù de lǚ tǔ zī yuán.
This region has abundant bauxite resources.
铝土。
Zhōng guó měi nián jìn kǒu dà liàng lǚ tǔ.
China imports large quantities of bauxite every year.

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.

铝lǚaluminum

铝 gives the metal and 土 gives the earthy ore, so the word means aluminum-bearing earth.

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 鋁; 铝 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

金金jīnmetal

Sound part声符shēngfú

呂

呂lǚ鋁lǚ

Same sound today

The traditional form 鋁 pairs 金 (metal) with 呂 as a sound part to write aluminium; this note is about 鋁, not the simplified 铝.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.