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单词 (dān cí) — word (as a lexical unit), individual word

Definition

Refers to a single vocabulary item, typically a word you learn or look up. Often paired with 学习/背, and contrasted with 词组 (phrase) or 句子 (sentence).

noun
word (as a lexical unit)individual word
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 单词？
    Zhè ge dān cí shì shén me yì si?
    What does this word mean?
  • 单词。
    Wǒ měi tiān bèi èr shí gè dān cí.
    I memorize twenty words every day.
  • 单词。
    Tā xiě zuò wén shí yòng le yì xiē hěn nán de dān cí.
    He used some very difficult words when writing his essay.

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.

单dānsingle
词cíword

‘单’ means single and ‘词’ means word, so they refer to an individual word.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 單; 单 is its simplified writing.

The form 單 originally pictured a Y-shaped wooden stick with two stones on top.

Open 单 →

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 詞; 词 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
司
司sī詞cí(r)
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 詞 uses 言, meaning speech, and 司 to show how it was pronounced; the simplified 词 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 词 →
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