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散播 (sàn bō) — to disseminate, to spread (news, rumors, ideas, etc.)

Definition

A formal/literary verb for actively spreading information, rumors, or ideas, with a negative connotation when used with 谣言. Stronger and more deliberate than the everyday 传播 (chuan2bo1).

verb
to disseminateto spread (news, rumors, ideas, etc.)

Examples

  • 散播。
    Zhè ge xiāo xi yǐ jīng bèi sàn bō dào quán guó.
    This news has already been disseminated throughout the country.
  • 散播，。
    Tā xǐ huan zài wǎng shàng sàn bō yáo yán, zhēn bù hǎo.
    He likes to spread rumors online — it's really not good.
  • 散播。
    Wǒ men yīng gāi jī jí sàn bō kē xué zhī shi.
    We should actively spread scientific knowledge.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

散sànscatter
播bōspread/sow

散 means scatter and 播 means spread or sow, so together they express spreading news or ideas widely.

Characters in this word

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

  • 林林líntrees, forest
  • 攴攴pūto knock, to tap

散 combines 林 (trees or forest) and 攴 (to knock or tap), originally showing knocking to clear vegetation, later extended to breaking up or dispersing.

Open 散 →

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
番
番fān播bō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

播 is built from 扌, a hand radical, plus 番 as a sound part. The hand part marks it as something done by hand.

Open 播 →
Appears in
Communication & Speech

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