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绝密 (jué mì) — top-secret

Definition

adjective
top-secret

Examples

  • 绝密，。
    Zhè shì yí fèn jué mì wén jiàn, zhǐ yǒu gāo céng cái néng kàn.
    This is a top-secret document that only top management can see.
  • 绝密。
    jué mì Rèn wu yāo qiú wǒ men yán gé bǎo mì.
    The top-secret mission requires us to strictly keep it confidential.
  • 绝密。
    Xiè lòu jué mì xìn xī huì shòu dào fǎ lǜ yán chéng.
    Leaking top-secret information will be severely punished by law.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

绝juéabsolute
密mìsecret

绝 intensifies 密, giving the sense of something extremely secret.

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 →

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
山山shānmountain
Sound part声符shēngfú
宓
宓mì密mì
Same sound today

密 pairs 山 (mountain) with 宓 (mì), which gives the pronunciation, to picture something hidden in the mountains, hence secret.

Open 密 →
Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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