起飞 (qǐ fēi) — to take off (of aircraft, birds, etc.) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

起飞 (qǐfēi) means 'take off' for aircraft or birds — focus on the moment of leaving the ground. Unlike 飞行, it's about the action of departing, not flying itself; 脱 is unrelated (it's for clothing/skin).

verb

to take off (of aircraft, birds, etc.)

Examples

起飞。
Fēi jī cóng shàng hǎi qǐ fēi dào běi jīng.
The plane takes off from Shanghai to Beijing.
起飞。
Xiǎo niǎo cóng shù shàng qǐ fēi le.
The little bird took off from the tree.
起飞。
Fēi jī yīn wèi tiān qì bù hǎo bù néng qǐ fēi.
The plane can't take off because of bad weather.

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.

起 (start) and 飞 (fly) mean begin flying, as an aircraft leaves the ground.

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.

走巳起

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

巳

巳sì起qǐ

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

起 is made from 走 and 巳: 走 is the part connected with walking or running, and 巳 gives the sound.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 飛; 飞 is its simplified writing.

For 飞, the traditional form 飛 pictures a bird flying upwards.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 3 HSK 2.0 Level 4 Air Travel 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 3 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.