基督 (Jī dū) — Christ; Jesus Christ | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literally 'Christ' as a religious title, used almost exclusively in compound words like 基督教 (Christianity) or 耶稣基督 (Jesus Christ).

noun

ChristJesus Christ

Examples

，基督。
Zài xī fāng wén huà zhōng, Jī dū shì zuì zhòng yào de zōng jiào rén wù zhī yī.
In Western culture, Christ is one of the most important religious figures.
基督。
Hěn duō yì shù zuò pǐn dōu yǐ Jī dū de gù shi wèi zhǔ tí.
Many artworks take the story of Christ as their theme.
，基督。
Xìn tú men zài jiào táng lǐ dǎo gào, qí qiú Jī dū de zhǐ yǐn.
Believers pray in the church, seeking Christ's guidance.

Origin

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

基 and 督 spell the foreign name Christ; the characters carry no meaning here.

Sound-only characters

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

其土基

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

其

其qí基jī

Same sound today

The lower 土 means earth, and the upper 其 gives the sound; together they form the idea of a foundation of earth.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

叔目督

Meaning part形符xíngfú

目目mùeye

Sound part声符shēngfú

叔

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

督 pairs 目 (eye) with 叔, which gives the sound; the shape shows looking over or overseeing with eyes.

Appears in

Religion & Belief 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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