Chinese word

出土

Pronunciation

Pinyinchū tǔ

Meaning

  • verbbe unearthed

Example

这个墓穴里出土了很多文物。zhè ge mù xué lǐ chū tǔ le hěn duō wén wù

Many cultural relics were unearthed in this tomb.

Illustration for 出土 (be unearthed)

More examples

修桥时，在河床的砂层中出土了一件完整的陶片。xiū qiáo shí zài hé chuáng de shā céng zhōng chū tǔ le yí jiàn wán zhěng de táo piàn

During bridge repairs, a complete pottery shard was unearthed in a layer of sand on the riverbed.

Core concept

A buried artifact passes from the soil into view through archaeological digging.

Common phrases

  • 出土文物chū tǔ wén wù

    unearthed cultural relics

  • 出土于chū tǔ yú

    be unearthed in

  • 出土器物chū tǔ qì wù

    unearthed artifacts

Similar words

发掘fā jué: To excavate a site systematically to uncover artifacts or information.
挖掘wā jué: To dig into soil to take out something buried, often during building or archaeological work.
发现fā xiàn: To find a previously unknown object or fact through investigation or by chance.

Definition in Chinese

表示文物、陶器、骨器等在考古挖掘中从地下出现或被发现的动作或状态。biǎo shì wén wù táo qì gǔ qì děng zài káo gǔ wā jué zhōng cóng dì xià chū xiàn huò bèi fā xiàn de dòng zuò huò zhuàng tài

Word origin

出土 (chūtǔ, "come out of the earth") combines 出 (chū, "come out") + 土 (tǔ, "earth"), creating a direct image of something emerging from the ground.

Usage tips

  • The artifact normally serves as the subject, while the tomb or excavation site is stated separately, so Chinese often foregrounds what was found rather than who found it.

Opposites

Related words

  • 出土品chū tǔ pǐnexcavated artifactsnoun
  • 出土层chū tǔ céngarchaeological layernoun

Word lists with this word