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养殖 (yǎng zhí) — to breed, to raise (animals, fish, plants); to cultivate, to foster (talent, skills, relationships)

Definition

养殖 (yǎngzhí) means raising living things — animals, fish, or plants — for use or sale, focused on the concrete agricultural/aquaculture sense. For cultivating abstract things (habits, talent) use 培养; 繁殖 is specifically about biological reproduction.

verb
to breedto raise (animals, fish, plants)to cultivateto foster (talent, skills, relationships)

Examples

  • 养殖。
    Nóng mín zài tián lǐ yǎng zhí shū cài.
    Farmers cultivate vegetables in the fields.
  • 养殖。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī zhuān mén yǎng zhí guān shǎng yú.
    This company specializes in breeding ornamental fish.
  • 养殖。
    Lǎo shī bāng zhù yǎng zhí xué shēng de tuán duì jīng shén.
    The teacher helps cultivate the students' team spirit.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

养yǎngraise
殖zhíbreed

养 means raise and 殖 means breed, so 养殖 covers breeding and raising animals or plants.

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
歹歹dǎi
Sound part声符shēngfú
直
直zhí殖zhí
Same sound today

殖 is built from 歹 and 直, with 歹 giving the meaning and 直 giving the sound.

Open 殖 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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