成套 (chéng tào) — to form a complete set; to be sold as a set | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Verbal idiom meaning 'to form a complete set / to come as a matching group.' Typically modifies a noun (成套设备, 成套家具) to indicate items packaged or designed together as one unit.

verb

to form a complete setto be sold as a set

Examples

成套。
Zhè tào jiā jù shì chéng tào chū shòu de.
This set of furniture is sold as a complete set.
成套。
Tā men gōng sī zhuān mén shēng chǎn chéng tào shè bèi.
Their company specializes in producing complete sets of equipment.
，。
Zhè xiē shū kě yǐ chéng sān tào, měi tào shí běn.
These books can be made into three sets, each with ten volumes.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

成 expresses forming and 套 a set, so the word means to form a complete set.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

丁dīng成chéng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

成 puts 戊, a weapon, beside 丁, which gives the sound. The weapon part relates to protection, as in the old sense of city walls.

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

大大dàlarge
長長chánglong

套 is made from 大 (large) and 長 (long), originally for something long, with some reference to hair; it later came to mean a cover or a linked group.

Appears in

Order & Arrangement

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