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对象 (duì xiàng) — target; object (of research, criticism, etc.); boyfriend; girlfriend; romantic partner

Definition

对象 has two unrelated senses: a person you date ('partner' — usually disambiguated with 男朋友/女朋友), and the focus of an action or study ('target, object,' e.g. 调查的对象). Don't confuse the abstract 'object' sense with 事物 or 物体, which mean a physical thing.

noun
targetobject (of research, criticism, etc.)boyfriendgirlfriendromantic partner
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 对象？
    Nǐ duì xiàng shì zuò shén me gōng zuò de?
    What does your boyfriend/girlfriend do for work?
  • 对象。
    Zhè cì diào chá de duì xiàng shì dà xué shēng.
    The target of this survey is college students.
  • 对象。
    Tā pī píng de duì xiàng bú shì wǒ men gōng sī.
    The target of his criticism is not our company.

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.

对duìtoward
象xiàngimage

对 points toward, and 象 is an image or object, so the word names the thing faced.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 對; 对 is its simplified writing.

For the traditional form 對, the shape comes from an early drawing of 丵 (a digging tool), 土 (earth), and 又 (a hand); it may have meant developing land.

Open 对 →

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

象 is drawn as an elephant, with a long trunk, a head, and a big body.

Open 象 →
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