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出道 (chū dào) — (of an entertainer) to debut, to make one's first public appearance; to start a professional career in the entertainment industry

Definition

出道 (chūdào) is specifically an entertainer or idol's first public appearance in the industry — not a general career start. It is often used with 火 ('become popular') to mean 'become famous right after debuting'.

verb
(of an entertainer) to debut, to make one's first public appearanceto start a professional career in the entertainment industry

Examples

  • 出道。
    Tā qù nián chū dào le.
    She debuted last year.
  • 。
    Tā chū le dào yǐ hòu jiù huǒ le.
    After he debuted, he became very popular.
  • 出道。
    Wǒ men xī wàng tā néng zǎo rì chū dào.
    We hope she can debut as soon as possible.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

出chūstep out
道dàopath

出 suggests stepping out, and 道 is the path, together meaning to debut in public.

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.

Open 出 →

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
行行xíngstreet
止止zhǐfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
𩠐
首shǒu道dào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Open 道 →
Appears in
Professions & Jobs

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