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重合 (chóng hé) — to coincide; to overlap (physically or abstractly)

Definition

A verb meaning two things share the same position, time, or idea. More concrete and physical than 巧合 (which is an adjective describing chance). 交叉 stresses things running across each other; 重合 means they share the same space or moment.

verb
to coincideto overlap (physically or abstractly)

Examples

  • 重合。
    Liǎng gè tú xíng wán quán chóng hé le.
    The two figures completely overlapped.
  • 重合。
    Tā men de xiǎng fǎ wán quán chóng hé.
    Their thoughts coincide completely.
  • 重合，。
    Wǒ men de jià qī chóng hé le, kě yǐ yì qǐ qù lǚ xíng.
    Our holidays coincide, so we can travel together.

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.

重zhòngagain
合héjoin

重 (again) and 合 (join) combine to mean that things fit together or coincide.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng重zhòng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

重 developed from a picture of a man carrying a bag, with 人 for the man and 東 for the bag; a later ground element was folded into the form.

Open 重 →

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

合 shows 亼 and 口 arranged as two mouths speaking together.

Open 合 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Abstract Concepts

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.