倒立 (dào lì) — to do a handstand; to stand upside down | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

倒立 (dàolì) is both the action ('to do a handstand') and the resulting state ('standing upside down'). Common in sports and yoga contexts.

verb

to do a handstandto stand upside down

Examples

倒立。
Tā xué huì le dào lì.
He learned to do a handstand.
倒立？
Nǐ néng dào lì duō jiǔ?
How long can you stand on your hands?
，倒立。
Zài yú jiā kè shàng, lǎo shī jiào wǒ men dào lì.
In yoga class, the teacher taught us handstands.

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.

倒dǎoupside down

倒 means upside down and 立 means stand; together they describe standing with the body inverted.

Characters in this word

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

亻到倒

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

到

到dào倒dào

Same sound today

倒 combines 亻 (person) with 到, which gives the sound.

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

立 pictures a person standing on the ground.

Appears in

Fitness & Exercise

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