二次大战 (èr cì dà zhàn) — World War II (Second World War)

Definition

Literary/formal name for World War II. More common in writing and history texts than the everyday 第二次世界大战, but both mean the same war.

noun

World War II (Second World War)

Measure word · 次

二次大战。
èr cì dà zhàn Shì rén lèi lì shǐ shàng zuì cǎn liè de zhàn zhēng zhī yī.
World War II was one of the most devastating wars in human history.
二次大战。
Tā zài èr cì dà zhàn zhōng shī qù le xǔ duō qīn rén.
He lost many relatives during World War II.
二次大战。
Zhè běn shū jì lù le èr cì dà zhàn de qǐ yīn hé jié guǒ.
This book records the causes and outcomes of World War II.

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.

二次second time

偏正Modifier + head

大战great war

偏正Modifier + head

二次 marks the second occurrence, 大战 a great war, so 二次大战 names World War II.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

二 is drawn as two parallel strokes, where the number of strokes shows the amount.

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

The old form of 次 shows a person exhaling, with the marks above the figure representing breath.

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

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

占戈战

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

占

Same sound today

战 pairs 占, which gives its sound, with 戈, a weapon.