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投保 (tóu bǎo) — to take out an insurance policy; to insure (against a specific risk or for a specific item)

Definition

投保 is the formal verb for 'to take out an insurance policy' — the buyer/applicant's side of the transaction, often paired with 保险 or a specific risk like 火险. Use it in writing and business contexts; 买保险 is the everyday spoken alternative.

verb
to take out an insurance policyto insure (against a specific risk or for a specific item)

Examples

  • 。
    Wǒ qù nián tóu le huǒ xiǎn.
    I insured against fire last year.
  • 投保。
    Tā gěi zì jǐ de chē tóu bǎo le.
    She insured her own car.
  • 投保。
    Hěn duō rén dōu huì wèi fáng wū tóu bǎo.
    Many people will insure their houses.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

投tóuput/submit
保bǎoinsurance

“投” (put/submit) + “保” (insurance) yields taking out insurance.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
殳
殳shū投tóu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 扌 shows a hand, and the right part 殳 gives the sound of the character.

Open 投 →

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

保 originally showed a person 人 carrying a child 子 on their back, which led to the sense of protecting.

Open 保 →
Appears in
Finance & Banking

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