车速 (chē sù) — speed of a vehicle; vehicle speed

Definition

车速 specifically means the speed of a vehicle, often shown on a speedometer. 速度 is the general word for 'speed' of anything; 时速 measures speed per hour (e.g., km/h).

noun

speed of a vehiclevehicle speed

Examples

车速。
Kāi chē de shí hou yào zhù yì chē sù.
Pay attention to your speed when driving.
车速。
Zhè liàng chē de chē sù bù néng tài kuài.
This car's speed must not be too fast.
车速，。
Qián miàn de chē chē sù hěn màn, wǒ men zǒu lìng wài yì tiáo lù ba.
The car ahead is very slow; let's take another road.

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.

车chēvehicle

速sùspeed

The first part names a vehicle, and the second names speed, so together they mean how fast a vehicle moves.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →

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

辵辵chuò

Sound part声符shēngfú

束

束shù速sù

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

速 pairs 辵, the walking part, with 束, which is used for its sound; the walking part fits the meaning of moving fast.

Open 速 →

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 4 Vehicles