兵权 (bīng quán) — military power; military leadership

Definition

noun
military powermilitary leadership

Examples

  • ,。
    Lì dài huáng dì zuì pà wǔ jiàng shǒu wò zhòng bīng quán, wēi xié huáng quán.
    Emperors throughout history most feared military officers holding heavy military power, threatening imperial authority.
  • 兵权,。
    Tā duó qǔ bīng quán hòu, lì kè kòng zhì le zhěng gè guó jiā.
    After he seized military power, he immediately controlled the entire country.
  • ,兵权。
    Lì shǐ shàng, bīng quán de jiāo jiē wǎng wǎng bàn suí zhe dòng dàng.
    In history, the handover of military leadership was often accompanied by turmoil.

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.

兵bīngmilitary
权quánpower

兵 points to military affairs, and 权 gives power, so the sense is military power.

Characters in this word

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

  • 斤斤jīna short axe
  • 廾廾gǒng2 hands

兵 combines 斤, a short axe, with 廾, two hands, showing a pair of hands holding a weapon.

Open 兵 →

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 權; 权 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn權quán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 權 shows 木, a tree, with 雚 giving the sound; it named a kind of tree and was used for a standard weight. The simplified 权 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 权 →

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