Chinese word

砖

Pronunciation

Pinyinzhuān

Meaning

  • nounbrick

Example

孩子们用砖搭了一个小城堡。hái zi men yòng zhuān dā le yí gè xiǎo chéng bǎo

The children used bricks to build a small castle.

Illustration for 砖 (brick)

More examples

这座旧房子是用砖建造的。zhè zuò jiù fáng zi shì yòng zhuān jiàn zào de

This old house was built with bricks.

Core concept

A fired, solid block that joins with others to form walls, floors, or decorative surfaces.

Common phrases

  • 用砖砌墙yòng zhuān qì qiáng

    build a wall with bricks

  • 红砖房hóng zhuān fáng

    red-brick house

Similar words

瓦wǎ: A thin, flat fired piece placed on a roof to protect and cover it.
瓷砖cí zhuān: A flat piece of ceramic used to finish the surface of a floor or wall.
石头shí tou: A hard natural piece of rock that can have many different shapes and sizes.
混凝土hùn níng tǔ: A strong artificial building material formed when cement, sand, and gravel harden together.

Definition in Chinese

以粘土或其他耐火材料烧制成的块状建筑材料，常见于砌墙、铺地或装饰。yǐ nián tǔ huò qí tā nài huǒ cái liào shāo zhì chéng de kuài zhuàng jiàn zhù cái liào cháng jiàn yú qì qiáng pù dì huò zhuāng shì

Word origin

The character 砖 (zhuān, "brick") combines 石 (shí, "stone") + 专 (zhuān, "specialized"), with 石 pointing to the material and 专 indicating the pronunciation.

Usage tips

  • For one brick, everyday Chinese uses the classifier 块 (kuài, "piece") after the number, as in 一块砖 (yí kuài zhuān, "one brick").

Related words

  • 砖块zhuān kuàibrick blocknoun
  • 砖厂zhuān chǎngbrick factorynoun

Word lists with this word