光复 (guāng fù) — (formal) to recover (lost territory), to reclaim

Definition

A formal, written verb meaning to recover or reclaim lost territory or homeland — used in historical, patriotic, or political contexts, not daily speech. Distinguish from 收复 (shōufù), the more neutral 'recover (territory)' used in standard reports.

verb
(formal) to recover (lost territory)to reclaim

Examples

  • 光复。
    Zǔ guó zhōng yú guāng fù le shī qù de lǐng tǔ.
    The motherland finally recovered the lost territory.
  • 光复。
    Zhè chǎng zhàn zhēng zhōng wǒ men guāng fù le xǔ duō chéng shì.
    In this war, we recovered many cities.
  • 光复。
    Tā men fā shì yí dìng guāng fù gù xiāng.
    They swore they would reclaim their homeland.

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.

光guāngrestore
复fùrecover

光 and 复 both carry the sense of restoring or recovering, so together they mean to reclaim lost territory.

Characters in this word

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

  • 火火huǒfire
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The shape 光 places 火 (fire) above 卩 (a kneeling person), showing fire over the head and the shining of light.

Open 光 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 復; 复 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 复 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (复习, 恢复) it is 復; in others (复印, 复杂) (答复, 反复) it is 複 or 覆.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
彳彳chìwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
复
复fù復fù
Same sound today

The traditional form 復 combines 彳, a walking part, with 复, a sound part, to show walking back and forth.

Open 复 →

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