露宿 (lù sù) — to sleep outdoors; to camp in the open

Definition

verb
to sleep outdoorsto camp in the open

Examples

  • 露宿
    Yóu yú lǚ guǎn mǎn yuán, tā men zhǐ néng lù sù jiē tóu.
    Because the hotels were full, they could only sleep on the streets.
  • 露宿
    Wǒ men jué dìng zài shān shàng lù sù yì wǎn.
    We decided to camp out in the mountains for one night.
  • 露宿
    Nà wèi liú làng hàn cháng nián lù sù zài gōng yuán lǐ.
    That homeless person sleeps in the park all year round.

Origin

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.

dew; open air
宿lodge; sleep

露 evokes open air or dew, and 宿 is to lodge or sleep, so the whole means to sleep outdoors.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
Sound part声符shēngfú
Same sound today

露 pairs 雨, a rain-related meaning part, with 路, a sound part.

Open 露 →

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

  • rénperson
  • wéibamboo mat

The shape comes from an old drawing of 人, a person, resting on a mat.

Open 宿 →

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