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折叠 (zhé dié) — to fold

Definition

折叠 means 'to fold' an object into a smaller shape (clothes, paper, umbrellas) — it is a separable verb often paired with 起来 or 好. 叠 alone covers folding and stacking; 折叠 adds the sense of collapsing something down.

verb
to fold

Examples

  • 折叠。
    Qǐng bǎ zhè zhāng zhǐ zhé dié qǐ lái.
    Please fold this piece of paper.
  • 折叠。
    Zhè bǎ yǔ sǎn kě yǐ zhé dié chéng hěn xiǎo de xíng zhuàng.
    This umbrella can be folded into a very small shape.
  • 折叠。
    Tā bǎ yī fu zhé dié hǎo fàng jìn le xiāng zi.
    He folded his clothes nicely and put them into the suitcase.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

折zhébend
叠diéstack

"折" bend and "叠" stack together mean fold.

Characters in this word

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

  • 屮𣏄𣏄a tree {{zh-m|*木}} cut in half
  • 斤斤jīnaxe

The shape originally showed an axe (斤) cutting a tree in half; in 折 the left part is now written as a hand.

Open 折 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 疊; 叠 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 疊, not 叠, pairs 畾 and 宜 to show a pile.

Open 叠 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Change & Process

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