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武装力量 (wǔ zhuāng lì liàng) — armed forces; military power

Definition

noun
armed forcesmilitary power
Measure word · 支

Examples

  • 武装力量。
    Guó jiā bì xū jiā qiáng wǔ zhuāng lì liàng de jiàn shè.
    The country must strengthen the building of its armed forces.
  • 武装力量。
    wǔ zhuāng lì liàng Shì wéi hù guó jiā ān quán de zhòng yào bǎo zhàng.
    The armed forces are an important guarantee for maintaining national security.
  • 武装力量。
    Zhè zhī wǔ zhuāng lì liàng céng cān jiā guò duō cì guó jì wéi hé xíng dòng.
    This armed force has participated in multiple international peacekeeping operations.

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.

武装armed
武wǔarms装zhuāngequipment
联合Coordinate
力量force
力lìstrength量liángmeasure
联合Coordinate

武装 (armed) and 力量 (force) together mean armed forces.

Characters in this word

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

武 puts 戈 (dagger-axe) above 止 (foot/to walk), showing an army going on an expedition.

Open 武 →

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 裝; 装 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衣衣yīclothes
Sound part声符shēngfú
壯
壯zhuàng裝zhuāng
Same sound today

The traditional form 裝 pairs 衣 (clothes) with 壯 as a sound part; this story is about 裝, not the simplified 装.

Open 装 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

力 is drawn as either an arm bending out from the side of the body or a wooden plough.

Open 力 →

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

  • 日日rìsun
  • 東東dōngbag; east

量 has 日 (sun) over 東 (bag; east). Some explanations suggest measuring under the sun or the sun rising in the east, but the exact origin is unclear.

Open 量 →
Appears in
Military & Defense

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