玻璃

bōlí · HSK 5

glass

玻璃 — glass

🪟 玻 + 璃 = both 王 (jade) radical; bōlí sounds like 'bolly'

Originally referred to a jade-like crystal, hence both characters carry the 王 (jade) radical. The compound shifted to mean glass — transparent, brittle, jade-adjacent. Pronunciation bōlí rhymes with 'holy' minus the h.

More Chinese words · How Chinese works