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寿命 (shòu mìng) — lifespan, life expectancy; lifetime (of a machine)

Definition

寿命 measures how long something lasts — used for animals, machines, and human life expectancy. Unlike 人生 or 一生 (a person's whole life as a personal experience), 寿命 is a numeric, measurable span.

noun
lifespanlife expectancylifetime (of a machine)

Examples

  • 寿命。
    Zhè zhǒng niǎo de shòu mìng kě dá èr shí nián.
    This kind of bird can live up to twenty years.
  • 寿命。
    Qì chē de shòu mìng gēn bǎo yǎng yǒu hěn dà guān xì.
    A car's lifespan has a lot to do with maintenance.
  • ，寿命。
    Suí zhe yī liáo jìn bù, rén de shòu mìng yuè lái yuè cháng.
    With medical advances, human life expectancy is getting longer.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

寿shòulongevity/life
命mìnglife

寿 as longevity joins 命 as life to mean the length of life.

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 壽; 寿 is its simplified writing.

  • 耂耂lǎoold
  • 𢏚𢏚𢏚

The traditional form 壽 uses 耂 for old and a sound part 𢏚, plus added decorative marks; the simplified 寿 is a later shorthand.

Open 寿 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5Life Stages & Age

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