陶瓷 (táo cí) — ceramics; pottery and porcelain

Definition

Umbrella term for all fired clay ware — pottery (陶器) and porcelain (瓷器) together. 瓷器 refers only to the finer, glazed porcelain subset.

noun
ceramicspottery and porcelain
Measure word · 件

Examples

  • 陶瓷。
    Wǒ xǐ huan shōu cáng táo cí.
    I like collecting ceramics.
  • 陶瓷。
    Zhè jiàn táo cí huā píng shì táng dài de.
    This ceramic vase is from the Tang dynasty.
  • 陶瓷。
    Zhōng guó de táo cí jì shù lì shǐ yōu jiǔ.
    China's ceramic technology has a long history.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

陶táopottery
瓷cíporcelain

陶 is pottery and 瓷 is porcelain; together they refer to ceramics.

Characters in this word

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

  • 阜阜fùmound of dirt
  • 勹勹bāotwo people
  • 土土tǔearth

The oldest 陶 paired 阜 (mound of dirt) with 勹 (two people) and 土 (earth), showing digging; the parts below 勹 later changed.

Open 陶 →

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
瓦瓦wǎearthenware
Sound part声符shēngfú
次
次cì瓷cí
Same sound today

瓷 is built from 次, giving its sound, and 瓦, meaning earthenware.

Open 瓷 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Crafts & Handiwork

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