方队 (fāng duì) — square formation (of paraders, soldiers, etc.)

Definition

方队 refers to a square or rectangular formation of marchers, usually soldiers or performers in a parade or ceremony. It is a formal, set term — not used for everyday lines of people (those are 队伍 or 队列).

noun
square formation (of paraders, soldiers, etc.)

Examples

  • ，方队。
    Zài guó qìng yuè bīng shì shàng, měi yí gè fāng duì dōu zǒu dé fēi cháng zhěng qí.
    At the National Day military parade, every square formation marched very neatly.
  • 方队，。
    Xué shēng men pái chéng le bù tóng de fāng duì, zhǔn bèi jìn xíng tuán tǐ cāo biǎo yǎn.
    The students formed different square formations, preparing to perform group calisthenics.
  • 方队，。
    Zhè zhī fāng duì yóu yì bǎi míng shì bīng zǔ chéng, xiǎn de gé wài zhuàng guān.
    This square formation is composed of one hundred soldiers, looking especially spectacular.

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.

方fāngsquare
队duìformation

方 means square and 队 means a formation or group, so 方队 is a square formation.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 方 →

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 隊; 队 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
㒸
㒸㒸隊duì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 隊 has 阜 as the meaning part and 㒸 as the sound part.

Open 队 →

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