蜜蜂为何用六边形建造蜂巢

What does “六边形 (liubianxing)” mean in Chinese?

This TED-Ed video asks why bees build their 蜂巢 (fēngcháo), honeycomb, out of the 六边形 (liùbiānxíng), the hexagon. The word builds itself: 六 (liù) “six” + 边 (biān) “side” + 形 (xíng) “shape”, a six-sided shape. Bees choose it because it stores the most honey using the least 蜂蜡 (fēnglà), beeswax.

Chinese shape words are gloriously regular. Once you know 形 means “shape” and 边 means “side,” the whole set falls open: 三角形 (triangle, “three-corner-shape”), 正方形 (square), 圆形 (circle), 五边形 (pentagon). Just count the 边. Learn 六边形 and you’ve basically unlocked Chinese geometry vocabulary in one move.