才学 (cái xué) — erudition, scholarship

Definition

A formal, literary word for 'erudition / scholarship' — a person's broad learning and knowledge. Less common than 学问 in everyday speech, and tone is more dignified.

noun
eruditionscholarship

Examples

  • 才学。
    Tā de cái xué lìng rén pèi fú.
    His erudition is admirable.
  • 才学。
    Zhè wèi jiào shòu cái xué yuān bó.
    This professor has profound scholarship.
  • 才学。
    Tā cóng xiǎo jiù zhǎn xiàn chū fēi fán de cái xué.
    He showed extraordinary erudition since childhood.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

才cáitalent
学xuélearning

才 talent and 学 learning stand side by side to mean scholarly ability.

Characters in this word

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

才 originally drew a sharp peg, not a sprout growing from the ground.

Open 才 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

Open 学 →

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