赛会 (sài huì) — competition event; tournament; religious procession (especially with floats and performances)

Definition

In modern Chinese 赛会 most often means a large-scale sports or competitive event (tournament, championship meet), as in 国际体育赛会. The traditional sense of a religious procession with floats still appears in folk-festival contexts (e.g. 庙会赛会).

noun
competition eventtournamentreligious procession (especially with floats and performances)

Examples

  • 赛会。
    Zhè cì guó jì tǐ yù sài huì xī yǐn le quán qiú dǐng jiān yùn dòng yuán.
    This international sports tournament attracted top athletes from around the world.
  • 赛会。
    Měi nián miào huì qī jiān de sài huì dōu rè nao fēi fán.
    The religious processions during the annual temple fair are always extraordinarily lively.
  • 赛会。
    Kē jì bó lǎn huì shàng yǒu yí gè zhǔ tí sài huì.
    There is a themed exposition at the science and technology fair.

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.

赛sàicompetition
会huìgathering

赛 means competition, and 会 means gathering, giving an event such as a procession or exposition.

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 賽; 赛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèishell
Sound part声符shēngfú
塞
塞sāi賽sài
Same sound today

The traditional form 賽 uses 貝 (shell) for meaning and 塞 for sound. The simplified 赛 is a later shorthand.

Open 赛 →

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →

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