立国 (lì guó) — to found a state, to establish a country

Definition

立国 (lìguó) is a formal verb meaning 'to found / establish a state', usually used for a new nation coming into existence. It pairs with the more concrete 建立 for the act of setting up.

verb
to found a stateto establish a country

Examples

  • 1949立国。
    Zhè ge guó jiā shì zài 1949 nián lì guó de.
    This country was founded in 1949.
  • 。
    Tā men lì le yí gè dú lì de guó jiā.
    They established an independent state.
  • 立国，。
    lì guó Zhī hòu, tā men kāi shǐ jiàn shè jīng jì.
    After founding the state, they started building the economy.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

立lìestablish
国guócountry

The sense of establishing in 立 and country in 国 combine to mean founding a state.

Characters in this word

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

立 pictures a person standing on the ground.

Open 立 →

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.