马童 (mǎ tóng) — stable boy; young groom (person who tends horse…

Definition

noun

stable boyyoung groom (person who tends horses)

Measure word · 个

马童。
Nà wèi mǎ tóng měi tiān tiān bú liàng jiù qǐ lái wèi mǎ.
That groom gets up before dawn every day to feed the horses.
马童。
Gǔ dài dà hù rén jiā de mǎ tóng tōng cháng zhù zài mǎ jiù páng biān.
In ancient times, the grooms of wealthy families usually lived next to the stable.
马童，。
Zhè ge mǎ tóng hěn xì xīn, bǎ měi pǐ mǎ dōu zhào gù dé hěn hǎo.
This stable boy is very attentive and takes good care of every horse.

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.

马 points to horses, and 童 to a boy, giving a boy who tends horses.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

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

The form 童 comes from a pairing of 䇂 (a chisel) with 見 (a kneeling person with a huge eye), depicting a person having an eye gouged out.