Chinese word

文献

Pronunciation

Pinyinwén xiàn

Meaning

  • noundocuments

Example

我需要一些文献作为参考资料。wǒ xū yào yì xiē wén xiàn zuò wéi cān kǎo zī liào

I need some documents to use as reference material.

Illustration for 文献 (documents)

More examples

他在论文中引用了大量的文献。tā zài lùn wén zhōng yǐn yòng le dà liàng de wén xiàn

He cited a large number of documents in his paper.

Core concept

A body of written sources gathered and kept so ideas can be checked and cited.

Common phrases

  • 参考文献cān kǎo wén xiàn

    references

  • 查阅文献chá yuè wén xiàn

    consult documents

  • 学术文献xué shù wén xiàn

    academic literature

Similar words

资料zī liào: Information, data, or other materials gathered for study or work.
书籍shū jí: Published books in print or electronic form.
文章wén zhāng: A complete piece of writing published in a newspaper, magazine, journal, or online.
文档wén dàng: An official paper document or electronic file created and stored for work or research.

Definition in Chinese

指为阅读或学术研究而收集、记录并保存的书籍、论文、档案等书面资料，用作参考或引用。zhǐ wèi yuè dú huò xué shù yán jiū ér shōu jí jì lù bìng bǎo cún de shū jí lùn wén dàng àn děng shū miàn zī liào yòng zuò cān kǎo huò yǐn yòng

Word origin

文献 (wénxiàn, "written sources") is formed from 文 (wén, "writing") and 献 (xiàn, "to offer"), giving the idea of writing presented for later consultation.

Usage tips

  • In everyday conversation, this noun sounds formal and usually belongs to research or study, while a single item is often named more specifically as a book, article, or record.

Other meanings

  • materialsnoun
  • referencesnoun

Opposites

  • 口头资料kǒu tóu zī liàooral materialsnoun
  • 口述kǒu shùoral accountsnoun

Related words

  • 文献学wén xiàn xuéphilologynoun
  • 文献检索wén xiàn jián suǒliterature searchnoun
  • 文献综述wén xiàn zōng shùliterature reviewnoun

Word lists with this word