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潜入 (qián rù) — to submerge (underwater); to infiltrate (secretly enter)

Definition

潜入 stresses entering secretly or stealthily — into water (dive in) or into a place/system (sneak in). Compare 潜水 (just diving underwater) and 渗透 (slowly seeping through), while 淹没/淹 is water covering things from outside.

verb
to submerge (underwater)to infiltrate (secretly enter)

Examples

  • 潜入。
    Jǐng chá qián rù le fàn zuì tuán huǒ de jī dì.
    The police infiltrated the criminal gang's base.
  • 潜入，。
    Tā qiāo qiāo de qián rù shuǐ zhōng, xún zhǎo chén chuán.
    He quietly submerged into the water to look for the shipwreck.
  • 潜入。
    Hēi kè shè fǎ qián rù le gōng sī de fú wù qì.
    The hacker managed to infiltrate the company's server.

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.

潜qiánsecretly
入rùenter

潜 adds the sense of hidden or underwater, and 入 points to entering, giving the sense of slipping in or diving in.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 潛; 潜 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
朁
朁cǎn潛qián
Same sound today

The form 潛 has 水 as a meaning part and 朁 as a sound part; this note is about 潛, not the simplified 潜.

Open 潜 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

入 is drawn as an arrowhead, indicating 'to enter'.

Open 入 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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