进深 (jìn shēn) — (architecture) depth of a building or room (from entrance to rear wall)

Definition

Architectural term for how far a room or building extends from the front (entrance side) to the back wall — the length measured perpendicular to the facade. Paired with 面宽 (width along the front).

noun
(architecture) depth of a building or room (from entrance to rear wall)

Examples

  • 进深。
    Zhè ge fáng jiān de jìn shēn shì liù mǐ.
    The depth of this room is six meters.
  • 进深。
    Mǎi fáng shí yào zhù yì jìn shēn hé miàn kuān de bǐ lì.
    When buying a house, pay attention to the ratio of depth to width.
  • 进深，。
    Zhè dòng lóu de jìn shēn hěn dà, cǎi guāng bú tài hǎo.
    This building has a large depth, so the lighting isn't very good.

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.

进jìnfront-to-back
深shēndepth

进 points from the entrance inward, and 深 gives the depth.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 進; 进 is its simplified writing.

  • 辵辵chuòwalk
  • 隹隹zhuīshort-tail bird

The traditional form 進 pairs 辵 (walk) with 隹 (short-tail bird): the picture showed moving forward because a bird can only walk forward, not backward. The simplified 进 is a later shorthand.

Open 进 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
𥥍
𥥍𥥍深shēn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

深 is built from 氵, the side form of 水 “water”, and 𥥍, which supplies the sound.

Open 深 →

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