注意力 (zhù yì lì) — attention (the mental faculty of focusing on so… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

attention (the mental faculty of focusing on something)

Examples

注意力。
Shàng kè shí yào bǎ zhù yì lì jí zhōng zài lǎo shī jiǎng de nèi róng shàng.
In class, you should focus your attention on what the teacher is saying.
注意力。
Zhè jiàn xīn wén yǐn qǐ le dà jiā de zhù yì lì.
This piece of news has attracted everyone's attention.
注意力。
Hái zi de zhù yì lì hěn róng yì bèi wán jù xī yǐn.
Children's attention is easily caught by toys.

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.

注意attention

注zhùfocus意yìmind

动宾Verb + object

The word combines 注意, focusing the mind, with 力, a power or faculty, to name the mental capacity to attend.

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

水水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

主

主zhǔ注zhù

Same sound today

注 combines 水, meaning water, with 主, which gives the sound.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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.

Appears in

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