HSK · Level 18
135 words
Chinese word
词
Pronunciation
Pinyincí
Meaning
- nounword
Example
我不懂这个词的意思。wǒ bù dǒng zhè ge cí de yì si
I don't understand what this word means.
More examples
老师解释了这个词。lǎo shī jiě shì le zhè ge cí
The teacher explained this word.
Core concept
A small container of meaning that can name a thing, action, quality, or idea in speech or writing.
Common phrases
这个词zhè ge cí
this word
生词shēng cí
new word
近义词jìn yì cí
synonym
Similar words
单词dān cí: A word that can be used on its own in speech or writing to express meaning.
字zì: A single written character, especially a Chinese character, with its own shape and written form.
词语cí yǔ: A word or group of words used in speech or writing to convey meaning.
Definition in Chinese
表示语言中能独立承担意义的最小单位，通常由一个或多个汉字组成，用于指代事物、动作、性质或概念，在句子中作为意义单元使用。biǎo shì yǔ yán zhōng néng dú lì chéng dān yì yì de zuì xiǎo dān wèi tōng cháng yóu yí gè huò duō gè hàn zì zǔ chéng yòng yú zhǐ dài shì wù dòng zuò xìng zhì huò gài niàn zài jù zi zhōng zuò wéi yì yì dān yuán shǐ yòng
Word origin
The character 词 (cí, "word") combines 讠 (yán, "speech") for its language-related meaning with 司 (sī, "manage") as its historical sound guide.
Usage tips
- A single Chinese character does not always equal one English word, because several characters can work together as one unit and character-by-character translation can sound unnatural.