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重大 (zhòng dà) — major; significant; important

Definition

重大 stresses big, weighty consequences — 'major' decisions, problems, discoveries — stronger than 重要 ('important' in general). 显著 and 宏大 are closer to 'remarkable/grand' than to this sense.

adjective
majorsignificantimportant

Examples

  • 重大。
    Zhè shì yí gè fēi cháng zhòng dà de wèn tí.
    This is a very major problem.
  • 重大。
    Zhè cì huì yì zuò chū le zhòng dà de jué dìng.
    This meeting made a major decision.
  • 重大。
    Tā de yán jiū yǒu zhòng dà de kē xué yì yì.
    His research has great scientific significance.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

重zhònggreat; important
大dàbig; great

重大 combines 重 and 大, both suggesting great or important, to mean major or significant.

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 →

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →
Appears in
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