基站 (jī zhàn) — base station

Definition

A base station (基站, jīzhàn) is the fixed radio transceiver tower/equipment that relays mobile phone signals between your phone and the network. A learner should know this term mainly for reading about telecom, network coverage, or 5G topics.

noun
base station
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 基站。
    Zhè ge jī zhàn fù gài le fāng yuán shí gōng lǐ de xìn hào.
    This base station covers a radius of ten kilometers of signal.
  • 基站。
    Gōng sī zài shān dǐng xīn jiàn le yí gè jī zhàn.
    The company built a new base station on the mountaintop.
  • 基站。
    jī zhàn De wéi hù xū yào zhuān yè gōng chéng shī.
    Maintenance of the base station requires professional engineers.

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.

基jībase
站zhànstation

基 means base and 站 means station; together they name a base station.

Characters in this word

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

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.

Open 基 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
立立lì
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn站zhàn
Same sound today

站 has 立 on the left and 占 on the right; 立 relates to standing, and 占 gives the sound.

Open 站 →

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