黑桃 (hēi táo) — spade (in cards) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

spade (in cards)

Measure word · 张

黑桃。
Tā chū le yì zhāng hēi táo.
He played a spade.
黑桃。
Wǒ de hēi táo hěn duō.
I have a lot of spades.
黑桃。
hēi táo Shì pū kè pái de yì zhǒng huā sè.
Spades are a suit in playing cards.

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.

The suit is named with 黑 for its black color and 桃 for the spade card.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 黑 seems to come from drawing a head marked with dots, usually read as facial tattoos.

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

木兆桃

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

兆

兆zhào桃táo(r)

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

桃 combines 木, meaning tree, with 兆, which gives the sound.

Appears in