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敌方 (dí fāng) — enemy (side); hostile forces

Definition

敌方 refers to the opposing side in a military or strategic conflict — used in formal, written contexts like news and reports, more neutral than 敌人 (which focuses on individual combatants).

noun
enemy (side)hostile forces

Examples

  • 敌方。
    dí fāng Zài biān jìng jí jié le dà liàng bīng lì.
    The enemy has massed a large number of troops at the border.
  • 敌方。
    Qíng bào xiǎn shì dí fāng de jì huà fēi cháng zhōu mì.
    Intelligence shows the enemy's plan is very thorough.
  • ，。
    Tán pàn pò liè hòu, wǒ men lì jí zhuǎn rù le duì dí fāng de fáng yù zhuàng tài.
    After the negotiations broke down, we immediately entered a state of defense against the enemy.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

敌díenemy
方fāngside

The 敌 (enemy) specifies which 方 (side) is meant.

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 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 方 →
Appears in
Military & Defense

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