登月 (dēng yuè) — to land on the moon, to achieve a moon landing

Definition

Compound verb: 登 ('to ascend/land on') + 月 ('the moon'). Used for the full event of a spacecraft reaching and landing on the moon, not a single step.

verb
to land on the moonto achieve a moon landing

Examples

  • 2019登月。
    Zhōng guó zài 2019 nián chéng gōng shí xiàn le shǒu cì dēng yuè.
    China successfully achieved its first moon landing in 2019.
  • ，。
    Yǔ háng yuán zài yuè qiú shàng dēng le lù, yòu dēng le yuè.
    The astronauts landed on the moon and then walked on it.
  • 2030登月。
    Rén lèi jì huà 2030 nián zhī qián zài cì dēng yuè.
    Humanity plans to land on the moon again before 2030.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

登dēngascend
月yuèmoon

登 means ascend or land, and 月 names the moon as the place reached.

Characters in this word

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

  • 癶癶bōleft and right feet
  • 豆豆dòupictogrammic of raised object; stepping stone

登 pairs 癶, left and right feet, with 豆, a raised object or stepping stone; its older form also showed two hands at the bottom, which later dropped.

Open 登 →

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

月 was drawn as a crescent moon, with the curved outline showing the moon’s shape.

Open 月 →

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