TongTong
Sign in

参谋长 (cān móu zhǎng) — chief of staff

Definition

noun
chief of staff
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 参谋长。
    cān móu zhǎng Zhèng zài zhì dìng zuò zhàn jì huà.
    The chief of staff is formulating the battle plan.
  • 参谋长。
    Gōng sī de cān móu zhǎng fù zé xié tiáo gè bù mén.
    The company's chief of staff is responsible for coordinating departments.
  • 参谋长。
    cān móu zhǎng Xiàng zǒng tǒng huì bào le qíng kuàng.
    The chief of staff reported the situation to the president.

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.

参谋staff officer
参cānconsult谋móuplan
动宾Verb + object
长chángchief

"参谋" staff officer and "长" chief: the chief among staff officers.

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.

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 謀; 谋 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
某
某mǒu謀móu
Same sound today

The traditional form 謀 uses 言 to show it relates to speech and 某 to show its sound; the simplified 谋 is a later shorthand.

Open 谋 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

Open 长 →
Appears in
Military & DefenseProfessions & Jobs

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