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出征 (chū zhēng) — to go into battle; to go on a military campaign

Definition

出征 (chū zhēng) specifically means troops 'going into battle / setting out on campaign,' emphasizing the departure for war — distinct from 出动, which focuses on dispatching forces for any mission.

verb
to go into battleto go on a military campaign
Easily confused

Examples

  • 出征。
    Míng tiān qīng chén bù duì jiù yào chū zhēng le.
    The troops will go into battle early tomorrow morning.
  • 出征，。
    Tā wèi guó jiā chū zhēng, yí qù jiù shì sān nián.
    He went on a military campaign for his country and was gone for three years.
  • 出征。
    Gǔ dài jiàng shì chū zhēng qián cháng huì jǔ xíng shì shī yí shì.
    In ancient times, soldiers would often hold a rallying ceremony before going into battle.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

出chūgo out
征zhēngcampaign

出 means go out and 征 names a campaign, so the whole means to go out on a military campaign.

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.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 徵; 征 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 征 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (特征, 象征) it is 徵; in others it is 征.

The story is about the traditional form 徵. It originally meant punishment, from a picture of a knife with tooth-shaped protrusions on its back; later forms kept that sense.

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Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Military & Defense

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