金库 (jīn kù) — treasury, vault, (financial) coffers

Definition

noun

treasuryvault(financial) coffers

Measure word · 个

金库。
Yín háng bǎ xiàn jīn dōu fàng zài jīn kù lǐ.
The bank keeps all cash in the vault.
金库。
Guó jiā jīn kù de chǔ bèi fēi cháng chōng zú.
The national treasury's reserves are very ample.
金库。
Tā men cóng gōng sī jīn kù lǐ tí qǔ le yì bǐ zī jīn.
They withdrew a sum of funds from the company's treasury.

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.

金jīngold/money

库kùvault/warehouse

金 gives precious wealth, and 库 gives the storage place.

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.

金 was drawn with marks for two pieces of metal, along with a part that gave its sound; it first meant copper, then metals and gold.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 庫; 库 is its simplified writing.

广車庫

Meaning part形符xíngfú

广广guǎngbuilding

Sound part声符shēngfú

車

車jū庫kù

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

The traditional form 庫 pairs 广 (building) with 車 (sound); the building part points to a storehouse. The simplified 库 is a later shorthand.

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