停止 (tíng zhǐ) — to stop; to halt; to cease

Definition

General-purpose 'to stop / halt' for ongoing actions or events (比赛停止了, 他停止说话了). Broader than 停 (often vehicles) and more everyday than the formal 终止.

verb
to stopto haltto cease

Examples

  • 停止。
    Dà fēng zhōng yú tíng zhǐ le.
    The strong wind finally stopped.
  • 停止，。
    Tā tíng zhǐ le shuō huà, kàn zhe wǒ.
    He stopped talking and looked at me.
  • 停止。
    Bǐ sài yǐ jīng tíng zhǐ le.
    The competition has already stopped.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

停tíngstop
止zhǐstop

停 and 止 both mean stop, so the word simply expresses ceasing.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
亭
亭tíng停tíng
Same sound today

The left side 亻 is a person, and the right side 亭 gives the sound tíng; this forms 停.

Open 停 →

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

止 was drawn as a footprint pointing up, with three toes and a sole, originally showing a foot.

Open 止 →
Appears in
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