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奉命 (fèng mìng) — to receive orders; to act on orders (often followed by a verb phrase)

Definition

A formal verb meaning 'to act under orders' — used mostly in military, official, or news contexts, not everyday speech. Often pairs with a following verb phrase (奉命前往 / 执行).

verb
to receive ordersto act on orders (often followed by a verb phrase)

Examples

  • 奉命。
    fèng mìng Qián wǎng zāi qū jiù yuán.
    Rush to the disaster area to provide relief as ordered.
  • 。
    Tā fèng shàng jí zhī mìng zhí xíng zhè xiàng rèn wu.
    He is carrying out this task on orders from his superiors.
  • 奉命。
    Tā men fèng mìng àn shí wán chéng le rèn wu.
    They completed the task on time as ordered.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

奉fèngreceive/obey
命mìngorders

奉 means to receive or obey, and 命 means orders; together they describe acting under orders.

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
廾廾gǒngtwo hands
Sound part声符shēngfú
丰
丰fēng奉fèng
Same sound today

奉 pairs 丰 for the pronunciation with 廾, 'two hands', as the meaning part.

Open 奉 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng命mìng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

命 combines 口, a mouth, with 令, which gives the sound.

Open 命 →
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