陀螺 (tuó luó) — spinning top (toy); gyroscope | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

spinning top (toy)gyroscope

Measure word · 个

Examples

陀螺。
Hái zi men zài guǎng chǎng shàng wán tuó luó.
The children are playing with tops in the square.
陀螺。
Zhè ge tuó luó zhuàn dé yòu kuài yòu wěn.
This top spins fast and steadily.
陀螺。
Gōng chéng shī yòng tuó luó lái cè liáng fāng xiàng.
Engineers use gyroscopes to measure direction.

Origin

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

The characters carry no meaning of their own here; together they name a spinning top.

Sound-only characters

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

虫累螺

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

累

累lèi螺luó

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

螺 combines 虫, a part associated with creatures, with 累, which gives the sound.

Appears in

Games & Puzzles

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