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征用 (zhēng yòng) — to commandeer; to requisition (for official or military use)

Definition

A formal verb for when the government or military officially takes private property for public use. The subject is always a state or military authority, unlike the everyday verb 用.

verb
to commandeerto requisition (for official or military use)

Examples

  • 征用。
    Zhèng fǔ zhēng yòng le nà piàn nóng tián yòng yú jiàn shè gāo sù gōng lù.
    The government requisitioned that farmland to build a highway.
  • ，征用。
    Zhàn zhēng zhōng, jūn fāng zhēng yòng le xǔ duō mín yòng chē liàng.
    During the war, the military commandeered many civilian vehicles.
  • 征用。
    Zhè jiā jiǔ diàn bèi zhēng yòng wèi lín shí gé lí zhōng xīn.
    This hotel was requisitioned as a temporary quarantine center.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

征zhēngrequisition
用yònguse

征用 joins 征 meaning requisition and 用 meaning use to commandeer for official use.

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 徵; 征 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 征 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (特征, 象征) it is 徵; in others it is 征.

The story is about the traditional form 徵. It originally meant punishment, from a picture of a knife with tooth-shaped protrusions on its back; later forms kept that sense.

Open 征 →

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

用 was formed by adding a handle to an earlier form.

Open 用 →
Appears in
Government & PoliticsMilitary & Defense

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