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租借 (zū jiè) — to rent, to hire, to lease

Definition

verb
to rentto hireto lease

Examples

  • 租借。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī zū jiè le yí dòng bàn gōng lóu.
    This company rented an office building.
  • 租借。
    Tā men cóng yín háng zū jiè le yì pī shè bèi.
    They leased a batch of equipment from the bank.
  • 租借。
    Nóng mín zū jiè le yí kuài tǔ dì zhòng zhí shū cài.
    The farmer rented a piece of land to grow vegetables.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

租zūrent
借jièborrow

租 and 借 stand side by side for renting and borrowing, hence lease.

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
禾禾hé
Sound part声符shēngfú
且
且qiě租zū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

租 uses 禾 (grain) because land rent was paid in grain, and 且 shows the pronunciation.

Open 租 →

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
人人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
昔
昔xī借jiè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

借 combines 人, a person, with 昔, which shows the sound.

Open 借 →
Appears in
Business & Commerce

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