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庞大 (páng dà) — huge; enormous; massive

Definition

Emphasizes sheer physical or structural size — 'huge, massive' in scale. Unlike 宏大 or 盛大 (which stress grandeur and ambition), 庞大 is more neutral and describes bigness itself.

adjective
hugeenormousmassive

Examples

  • 庞大。
    Zhè ge zǔ zhī de jié gòu shí fēn páng dà.
    The structure of this organization is huge.
  • 庞大。
    Jiě jué zhè ge wèn tí xū yào páng dà de nǔ lì.
    Solving this problem requires enormous effort.
  • 庞大。
    Zhè bù xiǎo shuō miáo xiě le yí gè páng dà de huàn xiǎng shì jiè.
    This novel describes a massive fantasy 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.

庞pánghuge
大dàbig

庞 “huge” and 大 “big” combine to describe something very large.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 龐; 庞 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
广广guǎnghouse
Sound part声符shēngfú
龍
龍lóng龐páng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 龐 pairs 广 (house) with 龍 (a sound part); the simplified 庞 is a shorthand, so its right side is not the original part.

Open 庞 →

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Size & Dimension

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