全球 (quán qiú) — the whole world; global; worldwide | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

全球 is a written, scope-of-planet word, used in formal contexts like news and reports ('global'). 世界 is the everyday, broader word for 'the world' (people, places, culture).

noun

the whole worldglobalworldwide

Examples

全球。
quán qiú Biàn nuǎn yǐng xiǎng hěn duō guó jiā.
Global warming affects many countries.
全球。
Zhè jiā gōng sī shì quán qiú zuì dà de.
This company is the largest in the world.
全球。
quán qiú Rén kǒu zhèng zài zēng jiā.
The global population is increasing.

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.

全 means 'whole' and 球 means 'globe', so it refers to the entire earth.

Characters in this word

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

入入rù
玉玉yùjade

The shape puts 入 together with 玉 to show a whole piece of jade, so it means complete or whole.

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

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

求

求qiú球qiú

Same sound today

球 is built from 玉, meaning jade, and 求, which gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 4 Geography & Landforms 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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