大主教 (dà zhǔ jiào) — archbishop | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

archbishop

Measure word · 位

大主教。
Zhè wèi dà zhǔ jiào zài jiào táng zhǔ chí le jīn tiān de mí sa.
This archbishop presided over today's mass at the church.
大主教。
dà zhǔ jiào De rèn mìng xū yào jīng guò jiào tíng de pī zhǔn.
The appointment of an archbishop requires approval from the Holy See.
大主教。
Tā tuì xiū hòu chéng wéi le yì míng róng yù dà zhǔ jiào.
After retirement, he became an honorary archbishop.

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.

主教bishop

动宾Verb + object

大 means great, and 主教 means bishop, so 大主教 is a great bishop.

Characters in this word

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.

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

The old forms that became 主 showed a lamp or torch with a flame at the top; other forms showed wood on fire or a spirit tablet.

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

子子zǐchild

攵Written in full as攴pūteaching cane; stick that represents authority

Sound part声符shēngfú

爻

爻yáo教jiào

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

教 uses 爻 for its sound and puts 子 (child) with 攵 (攴), a teaching cane, to show teaching a child.

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