jìng zi
mirror
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我每天早上都会照镜子。
wǒ měitiān zǎoshang dōu huì zhào jìngzi.
I look in the mirror every morning.
镜子里的我是谁？
jìngzi lǐ de wǒ shì shéi?
Who am I in the mirror?
镜子可以反射光线。
jìngzi kěyǐ fǎnshè guāngxiàn.
Mirrors can reflect light.
玻璃 (bō li)
glass
窗户 (chuāng hu)
window
The Chinese word for mirror, 镜子 (jìngzi), is a compound of two characters: 镜 (jìng) and 子 (zi). The character 镜 originally meant "to look at oneself" or "to reflect". It is composed of two parts: 目 (mù), which means "eye", and 京 (jīng), which means "capital city". The combination of these two characters suggests the idea of looking at oneself in a mirror, as if one were looking at oneself in the capital city. The character 子 (zi) is a suffix that indicates a small or young object. In this case, it is used to indicate that the mirror is a small or handheld object. Thus, the word 镜子 (jìngzi) literally means "small object for looking at oneself" or "handheld mirror".
