工厂 (gōng chǎng) — factory | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A factory — a building where things are made. 工厂 is the full everyday word; 厂 is its short form, used especially in compounds like 厂房 and 厂商. 车间 is one room/workshop inside a factory.

noun

factory

Measure word · 家, 座

Examples

工厂。
Wǒ jiā fù jìn yǒu yì gōng chǎng.
There is a factory near my home.
工厂。
Zhè gōng chǎng shēng chǎn hěn duō yī fu.
This factory produces a lot of clothes.
工厂。
Chéng lǐ yǒu sān gōng chǎng.
There are three factories in the city.

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.

厂chǎngfactory

工 “work” specifies 厂 “factory,” giving a place where work is done.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 廠; 厂 is its simplified writing.

广敞廠

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

敞

敞chǎng廠chǎng

Same sound today

The traditional form 廠 combines 广 with 敞, which gives the sound; the simplified 厂 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

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