温室

wēn shì · HSK 7

greenhouse

🪴 温室 = 温 warm + 室 room = a warm room = greenhouse

温 means warm (as in 温度, temperature) and 室 means room (as in 教室, classroom). A warm room where plants stay cozy is a greenhouse.

室 — roof 宀 + arrive 至
A semantic compound: 宀 (roof/house) over 至 (to arrive). The image is a place one arrives at and stays in — an inner room. From 'inner chamber' the meaning broadened to 'room' generally, and by extension to specialized rooms like an office or laboratory.

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