窗子

The Chinese word 窗子 (chuāngzi) for "window" is a compound of two characters: 窗 (chuāng) and 子 (zi). The character 窗 originally meant "a hole in a wall to let in light and air" and was composed of the characters 穴 (xué) for "hole" and 光 (guāng) for "light". The character 子 (zi) is a diminutive suffix, so 窗子 literally means "a small hole in a wall to let in light and air".The word 窗子 has been used in Chinese for over 2,000 years and has remained largely unchanged in its meaning and pronunciation. It is a common word in modern Chinese and is used to refer to both windows in buildings and car windows.