公转 (gōng zhuàn) — revolution (of a celestial body)

Definition

The orbital revolution of a celestial body around another (e.g. 地球公转 around the Sun). Contrast with 自转 (zìzhuàn), which is a body's rotation on its own axis.

noun
revolution (of a celestial body)

Examples

  • 公转。
    Dì qiú rào tài yáng gōng zhuàn yì zhōu xū yào yì nián.
    It takes one year for the Earth to complete one revolution around the Sun.
  • 公转。
    Huǒ xīng de gōng zhuàn zhōu qī bǐ dì qiú cháng.
    Mars has a longer revolution period than Earth.
  • 公转。
    Yuè qiú rào dì qiú de gōng zhuàn yùn dòng shì tuǒ yuán xíng de.
    The Moon's revolutionary motion around the Earth is elliptical.

Origin

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.

Open 公 →

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 轉; 转 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
車車jūcarriage
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān轉zhuǎn
Same sound today

The traditional form 轉 combines 車, a carriage, with 專 as a sound part; the simplified 转 is a later shorthand.

Open 转 →

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