敌我 (dí wǒ) — the enemy and oneself (in a binary distinction, often used in political or military contexts)

Definition

noun
the enemy and oneself (in a binary distinction, often used in political or military contexts)

Examples

  • ，敌我。
    Zài zhàn zhēng zhōng, bì xū fēn qīng dí wǒ guān xì.
    In war, one must clearly distinguish the relationship between the enemy and us.
  • 敌我。
    dí wǒ Máo dùn shì dāng qián de zhǔ yào wèn tí.
    The contradiction between the enemy and us is the main issue at present.
  • ，敌我。
    Zài chǔ lǐ guó jì shì wù shí, bù néng hùn xiáo dí wǒ.
    When handling international affairs, one must not confuse the enemy with us.

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.

敌díenemy
我wǒus

敌 (enemy) and 我 (us) are paired, naming the two sides.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 敵; 敌 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
攴攴pūto tap; to hit
Sound part声符shēngfú
啻
啻chì敵dí
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 敵 pairs 啻 as a sound part with 攴, a part for tapping or hitting.

Open 敌 →

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

The glyph 我 originally drew a trident-like weapon. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write the pronoun "I", so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 我 →

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