配种 (pèi zhǒng) — to breed (animals), to mate

Definition

A technical/agricultural term meaning to deliberately mate animals (livestock, pets) to produce or improve offspring. Less common in daily speech; used on farms and in breeding contexts.

verb
to breed (animals)to mate

Examples

  • 配种。
    Zhè ge nóng chǎng měi nián chūn tiān dōu huì gěi mǔ niú pèi zhǒng.
    This farm breeds the cows every spring.
  • 。
    Tā men gěi nà zhī mǔ gǒu pèi le yí cì zhǒng.
    They mated that female dog once.
  • ，配种。
    Wèi le tí gāo pǐn zhǒng zhì liàng, tā men xuǎn zé le zuì hǎo de gōng zhū lái pèi zhǒng.
    To improve the breed quality, they selected the best boar for breeding.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

配pèito match
种zhǒngbreed

配 means to match or mate, and 种 means breed or seed; together they describe mating animals for breeding.

Characters in this word

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

  • 酉酉yǒualcohol vessel
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

配 is formed by putting 酉, an alcohol vessel, next to 卩, a kneeling person. The reference gives these two parts, but not the reason they combine.

Open 配 →

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
禾禾hérice
Sound part声符shēngfú
中
中zhōng种zhǒng
Same sound today

种 pairs 禾, which shows rice or grain and fits meanings like plant and seed, with 中, which gives its sound.

Open 种 →

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