增大 (zēng dà) — to enlarge, to increase, to magnify | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

verb

to enlargeto increaseto magnify

Examples

增大。
Wǒ men yào nǔ lì zēng dà gōng sī de yè wù.
We must work hard to expand the company's business.
增大。
Zhè zhǒng jì shù kě yǐ zēng dà tú xiàng de qīng xī dù.
This technology can increase the clarity of images.
增大。
Zào yīn huì suí zhe yīn liàng zēng dà ér biàn dà.
The noise will get louder as the volume increases.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

增zēngincrease

增 means to increase, and 大 gives the result of becoming larger.

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.

土曾增

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

曾

曾céng增zēng

Same sound today

增 uses 土 (earth) to show that things grow in earth or are built from earth, and uses 曾 for the sound. This gives the sense of adding or increasing.

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Appears in

Change & Process Size & Dimension

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