出航 (chū háng) — to set sail; to depart (by sea or air); to take… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A formal verb meaning to set sail or take off, used for ships and aircraft departing. Pairs naturally with 起飞 (aircraft) and 起航 (ships), but covers both water and air travel.

verb

to set sailto depart (by sea or air)to take off

Examples

出航。
Míng tiān wǒ men chū háng qù rì běn.
Tomorrow we will set sail / depart for Japan.
。
Tā men shàng ge yuè chū le yí cì háng.
They went on a voyage/flight once last month.
出航。
Chuán zhǎng xià lìng chū háng.
The captain ordered to set sail.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

出 means go out, and 航 names the voyage or sailing.

Characters in this word

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

止止zhǐfoot
凵凵kǎncave

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

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

舟亢航

Meaning part形符xíngfú

舟舟zhōuboat

Sound part声符shēngfú

亢

亢kàng航háng

Same sound today

航 shows a boat with 舟, and 亢 gives the character its sound.

Appears in

Air Travel Boats & Water Travel

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