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词典 (cí diǎn) — dictionary

Definition

词典 is a general dictionary, usually for words and phrases. 字典 focuses on single Chinese characters; 辞典 is a more formal written variant of 词典.

noun
dictionary
Measure word · 部, 本
Easily confused

Examples

  • 词典。
    Wǒ xiǎng mǎi yì běn hàn yǔ cí diǎn.
    I want to buy a Chinese dictionary.
  • 词典，。
    Zhè běn cí diǎn hěn hǎo yòng, nǐ chá chá dān cí ba.
    This dictionary is very useful; go look up the words.
  • 词典？。
    Nǐ yòng nà bù cí diǎn le ma? wǒ xiǎng jiè yí xià.
    Did you use that dictionary? I want to borrow it.

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.

词cíword
典diǎnreference

词 names words and 典 means reference work, so together they name a reference book of words.

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 詞; 词 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
司
司sī詞cí(r)
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 詞 uses 言, meaning speech, and 司 to show how it was pronounced; the simplified 词 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 词 →

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

  • 冊冊cèbooks
  • 丌丌qítable

典 puts 冊 (books) on a 丌 (table), showing official books resting on a table.

Open 典 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3HSK 2.0 Level 4Language

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