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便道 (biàn dào) — sidewalk; pavement; shortcut; makeshift road

Definition

便道 is a single noun with three distinct concrete senses: a paved sidewalk beside a road, a shortcut on foot, or a temporary road during construction. The meaning is fixed by context — there is no general 'path' sense linking them.

noun
sidewalkpavementshortcutmakeshift road
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 便道。
    Tā zài biàn dào shàng zǒu lù.
    He walks on the sidewalk.
  • 便道。
    Zhè tiáo biàn dào kě yǐ jié shěng bù shǎo shí jiān.
    This shortcut can save quite a bit of time.
  • ，便道。
    Shī gōng qī jiān, chē liàng yìng zǒu lín shí biàn dào.
    During construction, vehicles should take the temporary makeshift road.

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.

便biànconvenient
道dàoroad

「便」 (convenient) and 「道」 (road) combine to mean a convenient route or pavement.

Characters in this word

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

便 pairs 亻 (person) with 更 (to change), showing a person changing posture to become comfortable.

Open 便 →

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
行行xíngstreet
止止zhǐfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
𩠐
首shǒu道dào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Open 道 →
Appears in
Roads & Traffic

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