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后卫 (hòu wèi) — (military) rear guard; (sports) guard; defender (in basketball, soccer, etc.)

Definition

后卫 covers two senses: the military 'rear guard' (the troops protecting the back of an army) and the sports 'guard / defender' (a back-line player in basketball, soccer, etc.). In sports, 后卫 = defender; 前锋 is the forward/attacker.

noun
(military) rear guard(sports) guarddefender (in basketball, soccer, etc.)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 后卫。
    Jūn duì pài le yí gè hòu wèi bù duì bǎo hù hòu fāng.
    The army sent a rear guard unit to protect the rear.
  • 后卫，。
    Tā shì qiú duì de zhǔ lì hòu wèi, fáng shǒu hěn qiáng.
    He is the team's starting guard, very strong on defense.
  • ，后卫。
    Zài zú qiú bǐ sài zhōng, hòu wèi yào fáng zhǐ duì fāng qián fēng jìn qiú.
    In a soccer match, the defender must stop the opposing forward from scoring.

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.

后hòurear
卫wèiguard

后, meaning rear, and 卫, meaning guard, combine to name a rear guard or defender.

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 後; 后 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 後 showed 夊 (foot) bound by 幺 (thread), a foot caught by a rope and lagging behind; the simplified 后 is a later abbreviation, and 后 also has a different meaning.

Open 后 →

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 衛; 卫 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
行行xíng
Sound part声符shēngfú
韋
韋wéi衛wèi
Same sound today

The traditional form 衛 is built from 行 as the sense part and 韋 as the sound part; the simplified 卫 is a shorthand.

Open 卫 →
Appears in
Military & DefenseSports & Athletics

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