养护 (yǎng hù) — to maintain, to conserve (roads, equipment, resources); to look after, to nurture (children, plants)

Definition

养护 covers both 'maintaining' physical things (roads, equipment, skin) and 'nurturing' living things (children, plants) — the concrete, everyday verb that bundles 维护-style upkeep with 养育-style care.

verb
to maintainto conserve (roads, equipment, resources)to look afterto nurture (children, plants)

Examples

  • 养护。
    Zhè tiáo lù měi nián dōu yào yǎng hù.
    This road needs maintenance every year.
  • 养护。
    Tā měi tiān huā hěn duō shí jiān yǎng hù pí fū.
    She spends a lot of time every day caring for her skin.
  • 养护。
    Zhèng fǔ tóu rù le dà liàng zī jīn yòng yú huán jìng yǎng hù.
    The government invested a large amount of funds in environmental conservation.

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.

养yǎngnourish
护hùprotect

养 'nourish' and 护 'protect' together mean keeping something in good condition.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 養; 养 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 養 uses 羊 as a sound part and 食 as a meaning part.

Open 养 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
户
户hù护hù
Same sound today

护 combines 扌 (the hand form 手) with 户, which gives the sound hù.

Open 护 →

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