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封闭 (fēng bì) — to seal off; to close (an area, entrance, etc.); to close down (an illegal business, venue)

Definition

封闭 means to seal or close off an area, road, or business — used both literally (a road, a venue) and figuratively (a person isolating themselves). For a company going out of business, prefer 倒闭 or 停业; 封锁 is a more forceful 'blockade/lockdown'.

verb
to seal offto close (an area, entrance, etc.)to close down (an illegal business, venue)

Examples

  • ，封闭。
    Shī gōng qī jiān, zhè tiáo lù bèi fēng bì le.
    During construction, this road was closed off.
  • 封闭。
    Nà jiā fēi fǎ jīng yíng de gōng sī bèi fēng bì le.
    That illegally operated company was shut down.
  • 封闭，。
    Tā xuǎn zé fēng bì zì jǐ, bù yǔ wài jiè jiāo liú.
    He chose to isolate himself and not communicate with the outside world.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

封fēngseal
闭bìshut

封 means to seal, and 闭 means to shut, so the two actions together describe closing off.

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
土土tǔearth
寸寸cùnhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
丰
丰fēng封fēng
Same sound today

The shape 封 is 丰 plus 土 (earth) plus 寸 (hand); 丰 was originally drawn as a tree seedling.

Open 封 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 閉; 闭 is its simplified writing.

  • 門門méndoor
  • 材材cáimaterial; timber

The traditional form 閉 pairs 門 (door) with 材 (material; timber); the simplified 闭 is a later shorthand, so its right side is not the historical component.

Open 闭 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Change & Process

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