蝉联 (chán lián) — to win or hold a title consecutively (for the s…

Definition

verb

to win or hold a title consecutively (for the second or subsequent time)

蝉联。
Tā chán lián le sān jiè ào yùn huì guàn jūn.
He won the Olympic championship for three consecutive terms.
蝉联。
Zhè zhī qiú duì yǐ jīng chán lián le wǔ cì lián sài guàn jūn.
This team has already won the league championship five times in a row.
蝉联。
Tā chán lián le jīn nián de zuì jiā nǚ yǎn yuán jiǎng.
She won this year's Best Actress award for the second consecutive year.

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.

蝉 suggests a cicada's successive molts, and 联 means joined, so the word describes holding something consecutively.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 蟬; 蝉 is its simplified writing.

虫單蟬

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

單

單dān蟬chán

Same sound today

The traditional form 蟬 combines 虫, meaning insect, with 單 for the sound; 蝉 is the simplified form of 蟬.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聯; 联 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 聯 combines 耳 (ear) and 絲 (silk); 联 is a simplified form of 聯.

Appears in