开发部 (kāi fā bù) — development department; R&D department

Definition

A company department that designs and develops new products or technology (R&D). Refers to the organizational unit, not the act of 开发 itself.

noun
development departmentR&D department
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 开发部，。
    Tā zài kāi fā bù gōng zuò, fù zé xīn chǎn pǐn shè jì.
    He works in the development department and is responsible for new product design.
  • 开发部。
    kāi fā bù De jīng lǐ míng tiān yào kāi huì.
    The manager of the development department has a meeting tomorrow.
  • 开发部。
    Gōng sī zhèng zài kuò dà kāi fā bù de guī mó.
    The company is expanding the scale of its development department.

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.

开发develop
开kāiopen发fāissue
联合Side by side
部bùdepartment

开 and 发 together mean to open up and develop, and 部 names the department.

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 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

  • 門門méndoor
  • 一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
  • 廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 發; 发 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 发 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (爆发, 出发) it is 發; in others (理发, 头发) it is 髮.

The form 發, which 发 stands for in many words, was originally drawn as a bow firing an arrow.

Open 发 →

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
邑邑yì
Sound part声符shēngfú
咅
咅pǒu部bù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

部 pairs 咅, which gives the sound, with 邑. It originally named a place in today's Gansu.

Open 部 →

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