战 (zhàn) — (bound morpheme) war; battle; fight; struggle

Definition

Bound morpheme meaning 'war / battle / fight', used only in compounds like 战争, 战场, 战斗. It is not a stand-alone word in modern Chinese.

bound form
(bound morpheme) warbattlefightstruggle
Easily confused

Examples

  • 。
    Zhè chǎng zhàn zhēng chí xù le shí nián.
    This war lasted ten years.
  • 。
    Shì bīng men zài zhàn chǎng shàng fēi cháng yǒng gǎn.
    The soldiers were very brave on the battlefield.
  • 。
    Wǒ men yào jiān chí zhàn dòu dào dǐ.
    We must persist in fighting to the end.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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.

Appears in
Conflict & AgreementMilitary & Defense2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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