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战役 (zhàn yì) — military campaign

Definition

战役 names a large-scale military campaign — a planned series of engagements within a war. It is bigger in scope than 战斗 (an individual battle or fight) and refers to the operation itself rather than 战场 (the place where fighting happens).

noun
military campaign
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 战役。
    Zhè chǎng zhàn yì gǎi biàn le zhěng gè zhàn zhēng de zǒu xiàng.
    This campaign changed the direction of the entire war.
  • 战役。
    Tā zài nà cì zhàn yì zhōng biǎo xiàn fēi cháng yīng yǒng.
    He performed very bravely in that campaign.
  • 战役。
    Lì shǐ shàng yǒu xǔ duō zhù míng de zhàn yì.
    There are many famous campaigns in history.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

战zhànfight
役yìmilitary operation

Both 战 and 役 refer to fighting or military operations, forming a campaign.

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
戈戈gē
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn战zhàn
Same sound today

战 pairs 占, which gives its sound, with 戈, a weapon.

Open 战 →

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

  • 彳彳chìmovement; action
  • 殳殳shūa weapon, like a spear

役 pairs 彳 (movement) with 殳 (a weapon like a spear) to show someone moving with a weapon to guard a border, giving the idea of a duty or task.

Open 役 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Military & Defense

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