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农业 (nóng yè) — agriculture, farming

Definition

农业 refers to the industry or sector of farming itself — not a place or a person. Contrast with 农村 (the rural area) and 农民 (the farmer).

noun
agriculturefarming

Examples

  • 农业。
    Tā zài dà xué xué xí nóng yè.
    He studies agriculture at university.
  • 农业。
    nóng yè Duì guó jiā jīng jì fēi cháng zhòng yào.
    Agriculture is very important to the national economy.
  • 农业。
    Hěn duō nián qīng rén xuǎn zé cóng shì nóng yè gōng zuò.
    Many young people choose to work in agriculture.

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.

农nóngfarming
业yèindustry

农 gives the idea of farming, and 业 names it as an industry.

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 農; 农 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 農 comes from 林 (vegetation) and 辰 (a hoe), showing a hoe among vegetation to remove weeds; the simplified 农 is a later abbreviation.

Open 农 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 業; 业 is its simplified writing.

  • 丵丵zhuóchisel
  • 大大dàperson; big

The traditional 業 is explained as a picture of a beam from which bells and chimes hang, or as a person lifting that beam. The simplified 业 is a shorthand, not the original shape.

Open 业 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Agriculture & Farming

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