参议院 (cān yì yuàn) — senate | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

senate

Examples

参议院。
cān yì yuàn Tōng guò le yí xiàng xīn fǎ lǜ.
The senate passed a new law.
参议院。
cān yì yuàn De yì yuán zhèng zài tǎo lùn yù suàn wèn tí.
The members of the senate are discussing the budget issue.
参议院。
Tā zài cān yì yuàn gōng zuò le shí nián.
She worked in the senate for ten years.

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.

参议participate in deliberation

参cānparticipate议yìdeliberate

联合Coordinate

院yuànhouse

参议 suggests joining in deliberation, and 院 names a house or chamber.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 參; 参 is its simplified writing.

晶晶jīngstars
光光guānglight; brightness
彡彡shānlight rays

For simplified 参, the story belongs to traditional 參, which combines 晶 (stars), 光 (light), and 彡 (rays) to show the Three Stars; one reading takes 光 as a kneeling person looking up.

Open 参 →

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 議; 议 is its simplified writing.

言義議

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yántalk

Sound part声符shēngfú

義

義yì議⁰yì

Same sound today

The traditional form 議 pairs 言 (talk) with 義 as a sound component; the simplified 议 is a later shorthand.

Open 议 →