TongTong
Sign in

理科 (lǐ kē) — the sciences (as an academic field, as opposed to the humanities or liberal arts)

Definition

理科 covers pure and applied sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, math) — the academic track focusing on natural laws. Often paired with 文科 (humanities) and contrasted with 工科 (engineering, which applies science to build things).

noun
the sciences (as an academic field, as opposed to the humanities or liberal arts)

Examples

  • 理科，。
    Tā gāo zhōng shí xuǎn de shì lǐ kē, suǒ yǐ dà xué dú le huà xué.
    He chose the sciences in high school, so he studied chemistry in college.
  • 理科。
    lǐ kē Hé wén kē de kǎo shì fāng shì bú tài yí yàng.
    The exam formats for the sciences and the humanities are quite different.
  • 理科。
    Xué lǐ kē de xué shēng tōng cháng luó ji sī wéi bǐ jiào qiáng.
    Students who study the sciences usually have stronger logical thinking.

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.

理lǐscience
科kēfield

'理' (science) and '科' (field) combine to mean the sciences.

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
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
里
里lǐ理lǐ
Same sound today

理 pairs 玉 (jade) with 里, which shows how to say it; the jade part points to the old sense of polishing jade.

Open 理 →

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
斗斗dòumeasuring tool
Sound part声符shēngfú
禾
禾hé科kē
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

科 pairs 禾, which gives the hé sound, with 斗, a measuring tool.

Open 科 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6School Subjects

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.