勋章 (xūn zhāng) — medal, decoration (award) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

勋章 is a formal medal awarded for honor or military service, more ceremonial than 奖牌 (a sports or competition prize) or 牌 (a badge/sign). Often measures with 枚.

noun

medaldecoration (award)

Measure word · 枚

Examples

勋章。
Tā huò dé le yì méi xūn zhāng.
He received a medal.
勋章。
Zhè méi xūn zhāng shì tā zài bǐ sài zhōng yíng dé de.
This medal was won by him in the competition.
勋章。
Tā bǎ xūn zhāng guà zài qiáng shàng.
She hung the medal on the wall.

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.

勋 (merit) and 章 (badge) combine to mean a medal for merit.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 勳; 勋 is its simplified writing.

熏力勳

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

熏

熏xūn勳xūn

Same sound today

The traditional form 勳 uses 力 (strength) for meaning and 熏 for sound; the simplified 勋 is a later shorthand.

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

章 shows a chisel piercing a piece of jade in the middle. It originally meant treating jade.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Miscellaneous Objects

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.