单项 (dān xiàng) — individual event (in sports, as opposed to a team event)

Definition

In sports, 单项 refers to a single event or discipline (as opposed to 团体, a team event). It can also mean 'single item' in non-sport contexts like a contract or list.

noun
individual event (in sports, as opposed to a team event)
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 单项。
    Tā zài zhè ge dān xiàng bǐ sài zhōng huò dé le jīn pái.
    He won a gold medal in this individual event.
  • 单项。
    Ào yùn huì yǒu hěn duō dān xiàng hé tuán tǐ xiàng mù.
    The Olympics have many individual and team events.
  • 单项，。
    Tā shàn cháng de shì nǚ zǐ dān xiàng, bú shì tuán tǐ sài.
    She specializes in the women's individual event, not the team competition.

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
项xiàngitem/event

单 means single, and 项 means item or event; together they name an event for one competitor.

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 項; 项 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng項xiàng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 項 combines 工 as a sound part with 頁, meaning head; the simplified 项 is a later shorthand.

Open 项 →

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