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母舰 (mǔ jiàn) — aircraft carrier; mother ship (a large naval vessel that carries, supports, or commands other vessels)

Definition

noun
aircraft carriermother ship (a large naval vessel that carries, supports, or commands other vessels)
Measure word · 艘

Examples

  • 母舰。
    Zhè sōu mǔ jiàn kě yǐ dā zài hěn duō fēi jī.
    This aircraft carrier can carry many planes.
  • 母舰。
    Wài xīng rén de mǔ jiàn jiàng luò zài le shā mò lǐ.
    The aliens' mother ship landed in the desert.
  • 母舰。
    mǔ jiàn Shì jiàn duì zhōng zuì zhòng yào de yì sōu chuán.
    The mother ship is the most important vessel in the fleet.

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.

母mǔmother
舰jiànwarship

The 母 part conveys the mother idea, and 舰 marks the large ship it describes.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 母 →

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 艦; 舰 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
舟舟zhōu
Sound part声符shēngfú
監
監jiān艦⁰jiàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 艦 pairs 舟 (boat) with 監 to give the sound; the simplified 舰 is a shorthand and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 舰 →
Appears in
Military & DefenseBoats & Water Travel

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