以太

yǐtài

noun

Meanings

1 ether (the medium once believed to carry light)
2 Ether (ETH), the cryptocurrency of Ethereum

Characters

used for its sound (e-)

used for its sound (-ther)

Examples

HSK 5

过去的物理学家以为，光是靠以太传播的。

Guòqù de wùlǐxuéjiā yǐwéi, guāng shì kào yǐtài chuánbō de.

Physicists of the past believed that light travelled through the ether.

HSK 7-9

以太和比特币一样，都是加密货币。

Yǐtài hé bǐtèbì yíyàng, dōu shì jiāmì huòbì.

Like Bitcoin, Ether is a cryptocurrency.

Tips

history

以太 is a sound loan from English "ether": 以 and 太 are there only for their sound. Relativity did away with the ether in physics, but the name lives on in 以太网 (Ethernet), 以太坊 (Ethereum) and its coin 以太币, which crypto talk shortens to 以太.

mistakes

The chemical ether, the old anaesthetic, is a different word: 乙醚.

Stroke Order

以 yǐ

太 tài