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绝大部分 (jué dà bù fen) — vast majority, overwhelming majority

Definition

'Vast majority' — a stronger, more emphatic way to say 'most' than 大部分, often used in writing and formal contexts. Functions as both an adjective and a noun.

vast majorityoverwhelming majority

Examples

  • 绝大部分。
    jué dà bù fen Xué shēng dōu tōng guò le kǎo shì.
    The vast majority of students passed the exam.
  • 绝大部分。
    Zhè lǐ jué dà bù fen jū mín huì shuō pǔ tōng huà.
    The vast majority of residents here can speak Mandarin.
  • 绝大部分。
    Wǒ men gōng sī jué dà bù fen yuán gōng duì gōng zuò hěn mǎn yì.
    The vast majority of employees in our company are satisfied with their work.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 絕; 绝 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 絕, 刀 (knife) and 幺 (silk) show a knife cutting silk threads. The simplified 绝 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original picture.

Open 绝 →

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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
邑邑yì
Sound part声符shēngfú
咅
咅pǒu部bù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

部 pairs 咅, which gives the sound, with 邑. It originally named a place in today's Gansu.

Open 部 →

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

分 pairs 八 (to separate) with 刀 (knife), showing something cut apart with a knife.

Open 分 →
Appears in
Quantity & Amount

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