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霜 (shuāng) — frost; frosting (on cakes); (skin) cream

Definition

A single word covering both natural frost (on the ground) and sweet frosting/cream (on cakes or skin). As a skincare item it's the NOUN — the act of applying it uses verbs like 涂 or 抹.

noun
frostfrosting (on cakes)(skin) cream
Measure word · 层
Easily confused

Examples

  • 霜。
    Jīn zǎo dì shàng yǒu yī céng báo báo de shuāng.
    This morning there was a thin layer of frost on the ground.
  • 霜。
    Dàn gāo shàng de shuāng shì yòng táng zuò de.
    The frosting on the cake is made of sugar.
  • 霜。
    Dōng tiān chū mén qián bié wàng le tú shuāng.
    Don't forget to apply cream before going out in winter.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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
雨雨yǔrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
相
相xiāng霜shuāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

霜 has 雨 (rain) on top for weather and 相 (xiāng) below for the sound.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Toiletries & CosmeticsWeather

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