兵马 (bīng mǎ) — troops and horses; military forces (historical/literary context)

Definition

Literary/historical term for 'troops and horses' — used as a fixed pair to mean a military force, not a literal count of soldiers and animals. Almost always appears in set phrases like 兵马俑.

noun
troops and horsesmilitary forces (historical/literary context)

Examples

  • 。
    Qín shǐ huáng de bīng mǎ yǒng shì shì jiè shàng zuì zhù míng de kǎo gǔ fā xiàn zhī yī.
    The Terracotta Army of Qin Shihuang is one of the most famous archaeological discoveries in the world.
  • ，兵马，。
    Gǔ dài dǎ zhàng shí, bīng mǎ wèi dòng, liáng cǎo xiān xíng.
    In ancient times, before troops and horses moved, supplies went first.
  • 兵马，。
    Zhè zhī bù duì bīng mǎ qiáng shèng, zhàn dòu lì jí gāo.
    This army is strong in troops and horses, with very high combat effectiveness.

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.

兵bīngsoldier
马mǎhorse

“兵” gives soldiers and “马” gives horses, together referring to military forces.

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

Open 马 →

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