中后期 (zhōng hòu qī) — middle to late stage (of a period, process, or event)

Definition

noun
middle to late stage (of a period, process, or event)

Examples

  • 中后期。
    Zhè ge xiàng mù de zhōng hòu qī xū yào dà liàng zī jīn.
    The middle-to-late stage of this project requires a large amount of funds.
  • 中后期。
    Ái zhèng zhōng hòu qī de zhì liáo fāng àn bǐ jiào fù zá.
    The treatment plans for middle-to-late stage cancer are relatively complex.
  • 中后期。
    Tā zài gōng sī fā zhǎn de zhōng hòu qī cái jiā rù tuán duì.
    He only joined the team in the middle-to-late stage of the company's development.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

中后middle and late
中zhōngmiddle后hòulate
联合Side by side
期qīperiod

中 and 后 mark the middle and late parts, and 期 is a stretch of time, so the name means the middle to late stage.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The original picture showed a flagpole with a drum in the middle, set up in the center of a field.

Open 中 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 後; 后 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 後 showed 夊 (foot) bound by 幺 (thread), a foot caught by a rope and lagging behind; the simplified 后 is a later abbreviation, and 后 also has a different meaning.

Open 后 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
日日rì
Sound part声符shēngfú
其
其qí期qī
Same sound today

The original form paired 其 for its sound with 日 (sun). A related form changed that sun to 月, and this later developed into 期.

Open 期 →

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