夜袭 (yè xí) — night attack, night raid

Definition

noun
night attacknight raid
Measure word · 次

Examples

  • 夜袭。
    Dí jūn zài líng chén fā dòng le yè xí.
    The enemy launched a night attack in the early morning.
  • 夜袭。
    Zhè cì yè xí dǎ dé dí rén cuò shǒu bù jí.
    This night raid caught the enemy off guard.
  • 夜袭。
    Lì shǐ shàng yǒu hěn duō zhù míng de yè xí.
    There are many famous night attacks in history.

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.

夜yènight
袭xíraid

夜 points to night, and 袭 means a raid, giving a night raid.

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
夕夕xīmoon
Sound part声符shēngfú
亦
亦yì夜yè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 夜 pairs 亦 as a sound part with 夕 as a moon part, for night. In the modern shape, the 亦 part is broken up and one stroke merges into 夕.

Open 夜 →

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 襲; 袭 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衣衣yīcloth
Sound part声符shēngfú
龖
龖dá襲xí
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 襲, 衣 shows cloth and 龖 gives the sound; the simplified 袭 is a later shorthand, so its visible parts are not the historical components.

Open 袭 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.