文档 (wén dàng) — (computer) file; document; documentation | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

文档 usually means a digital file (sent by email or stored on a computer). 文件 is the everyday word for any document or file; 档案 and 文献 are more formal (records, scholarly texts).

noun

(computer) filedocumentdocumentation

Measure word · 份

Examples

文档。
Qǐng bǎ zhè ge wén dàng fā gěi wǒ.
Please send me this file.
文档。
Tā zhèng zài zhěng lǐ gōng sī de wén dàng.
He is organizing the company's documents.
文档。
Zhè ge xiàng mù de suǒ yǒu wén dàng dōu yào qiān zì.
All documentation for this project needs to be signed.

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.

文 (text) + 档 (file) gives a written file or document.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The current form 文 shows a man with head, arms, legs, and chest; the tattoo marks on the chest are no longer drawn.

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 檔; 档 is its simplified writing.

木當檔

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

當

當dāng檔dàng

Same sound today

The traditional form 檔 pairs 木, a tree, with 當 as the sound part. The simplified 档 is an abbreviation of 檔.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 Computers & Internet

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