公路 (gōng lù) — highway, road (a main road for vehicles) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

公路 is a paved road built for motor vehicle traffic between cities — more specific than the general 路 ('road'), similar to 道路 but slightly more concrete and everyday.

noun

highwayroad (a main road for vehicles)

Measure word · 条

Examples

公路。
Cóng shàng hǎi dào nán jīng yǒu yì tiáo hěn zhí de gōng lù.
From Shanghai to Nanjing there is a very straight highway.
公路。
Zhè tiáo gōng lù shàng yǒu hěn duō chē.
There are many cars on this highway.
公路。
Xīn jiàn de gōng lù ràng lǚ xíng biàn de gèng fāng biàn le.
The newly built highway made travel more convenient.

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.

公 means public and 路 means road; together they denote a public road for vehicles.

Characters in this word

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

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

各

各gè路lù

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

路 combines 足, a foot, with 各, which supplies the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 4 Roads & Traffic 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 4 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.