guāng xiàn
light; optical line
阳光照射在树叶上，形成美丽的图案。
yángguāng zhàoshè zài shùyè shàng, xíngchéng měilì de túàn.
The sunlight shines on the leaves, forming beautiful patterns.
灯光照亮了整个房间。
dēngguāng zhàoliàngle zhěnggè fángjiān.
The light illuminates the entire room.
我打开手电筒，光线照亮了前方的路。
wǒ dǎkāi shǒudiàntǒng, guāngxiàn zhàoliàngle qiánfāng de lù.
I turn on the flashlight, and the light illuminates the path ahead.
光 (guāng)
light
亮光 (liàngguāng)
brightness
黑暗 (hēi àn)
darkness
阴暗 (yīn àn)
gloomy
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The Chinese word 光线 (guāngxiàn) for "light ray" is a compound of two characters: 光 (guāng), meaning "light", and 线 (xiàn), meaning "line" or "thread". The character 光 originally meant "firefly" and was later extended to mean "light" in general. The character 线 originally meant "silk thread" and was later extended to mean "line" or "thread" in general. The combination of these two characters creates the word 光线, which specifically refers to a ray of light.
