科 (kē) — (noun) subject, discipline, field of study; (noun) administrative department, section; (noun) taxonomic family (biology)
Definition
科 is a bound morpheme meaning 'branch' (of study or biology) — it almost never stands alone. Use 学科/科目 for 'school subject'; 部/部门 for 'department'.
noun
subjectdisciplinefield of studyadministrative departmentsectiontaxonomic family (biology)
Measure word · 个
Easily confused
- 料liàolook-alikematerial; stuff (used in making things)
- 颗kēsound-alike(classifier) for small roundish objects such as pearls, grains, teeth, hearts, stars, satellites
- 抖dǒulook-aliketo tremble, to shake (from cold, fear, etc.)
- 棵kēsound-alike(classifier) for trees, cabbages, plants, and other growing vegetation
- 磕kēsound-aliketo knock, to tap (against sth hard)
Examples
- 。Tā xué le sān mén bù tóng de xué kē.He studied three different subjects.
- ，。Tā zài cái wù kē gōng zuò, nà ge bù mén yǒu wǔ míng yuán gōng.She works in the finance department; that department has five employees.
- 科。Lǎo hǔ hé māo dōu shǔ yú māo kē dòng wù.Tigers and cats both belong to the feline family.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
科 pairs 禾, which gives the hé sound, with 斗, a measuring tool.
Appears in
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