出典 (chū diǎn) — source of an allusion or quotation

Definition

noun

source of an allusion or quotation

出典？
Zhè ge chéng yǔ de chū diǎn shì shén me?
What is the source of this idiom?
出典。
Xué zhě xū yào zǐ xì chá zhèng chū diǎn de kě kào xìng.
Scholars need to carefully verify the reliability of the source.
出典。
Tā yǐn yòng le gǔ dài wén xiàn zuò wéi chū diǎn.
He cited ancient texts as the source.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

出chūbring out

出 brings out a 典, so the word denotes where an allusion comes from.

Characters in this word

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

出 combines 止 (foot) and 凵 (cave) to show a foot stepping out of a cave.

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

典 puts 冊 (books) on a 丌 (table), showing official books resting on a table.