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机密 (jī mì) — (noun) secret; classified information; (adjective) classified, confidential

Definition

机密 refers to officially classified, formal 'secrets' (government, military, corporate). 秘密 is the everyday word for any personal or general secret.

noun
secretclassified information
adjective
classifiedconfidential
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 机密，。
    Zhè shì gōng sī de jī mì, nǐ bù néng gào sù bié rén.
    This is the company's secret; you cannot tell others.
  • 机密。
    Zhè xiē jī mì wén jiàn bì xū fàng zài ān quán de dì fāng.
    These classified documents must be kept in a safe place.
  • 机密。
    Tā yīn wèi xiè lòu jī mì bèi gōng sī kāi chú le.
    He was fired by the company for leaking secrets.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

机jīsecret
密mìsecret

'机' (secret) and '密' (secret) together mean classified information.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree; wood
Sound part声符shēngfú
几
几jǐ机jī
Same sound today

The left part is 木 (tree; wood), and the right part 几 gives the sound.

Open 机 →

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
山山shānmountain
Sound part声符shēngfú
宓
宓mì密mì
Same sound today

密 pairs 山 (mountain) with 宓 (mì), which gives the pronunciation, to picture something hidden in the mountains, hence secret.

Open 密 →
Appears in
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