保障 (bǎo zhàng) — (verb) to guarantee, to ensure, to safeguard; (… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

保障 focuses on protecting rights, welfare, or security in an institutional sense (e.g. legal, social). It is more formal and policy-oriented than 保护 (to protect people/things) and broader than 保证 (to pledge/promise).

verb

to guaranteeto ensureto safeguard

noun

guaranteesafeguardsecurity

Examples

保障。
Fǎ lǜ bǎo zhàng měi gè rén de jī běn quán lì.
The law guarantees everyone's basic rights.
保障。
Tuì xiū hòu tā de shēng huó yǒu le jī běn bǎo zhàng.
After retirement, his life had basic security.
保障。
Zhèng fǔ cǎi qǔ cuò shī bǎo zhàng shí pǐn ān quán.
The government takes measures to ensure food safety.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

保bǎoprotect

障zhàngshield

保 means to protect, and 障 has a shielding sense, so together they mean to safeguard by protecting and shielding.

Characters in this word

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

人人rénperson
子子zǐchild

保 originally showed a person 人 carrying a child 子 on their back, which led to the sense of protecting.

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

阝章障

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阝Written in full as阜fù

Sound part声符shēngfú

章

章zhāng障zhàng

Same sound today

The left part 阝, written in full as 阜, sits beside 章, which supplies the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Abstract Concepts Safety & Danger

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