外债 (wài zhài) — external debt; foreign debt

Definition

noun
external debtforeign debt

Examples

  • 外债。
    Zhè ge guó jiā de wài zhài yǐ jīng chāo guò le yí wàn yì měi yuán.
    This country's external debt has already exceeded one trillion US dollars.
  • 外债。
    Jiǎn shǎo wài zhài shì zhèng fǔ de zhòng yào mù biāo zhī yī.
    Reducing foreign debt is one of the government's important goals.
  • 外债。
    Gōng sī jiè le hěn duō wài zhài lái kuò dà yè wù.
    The company borrowed a lot of foreign debt to expand its business.

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.

外wàioutside
债zhàidebt

外 means outside or foreign, and 债 means debt; together they point to debt owed abroad.

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
卜卜bǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
月
月yuè外wài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

外 pairs 卜 with 月, a crescent moon; in its older form, the 卜 part had a horizontal bar extending outward, giving the sense of outside.

Open 外 →

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 債; 债 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
責
責zé債zhài
Same sound today

The traditional form 債 combines 亻 (person) with 責 as a sound part; the simplified 债 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 债 →

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