间接 (jiàn jiē) — indirect | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

An adjective meaning 'indirect' — describes actions, influence, or methods that work through an intermediary rather than directly. Compare with 二手, which usually refers to second-hand goods but can also mean information from an indirect source.

adjective

indirect

Examples

间接。
Zhè shì yì zhǒng jiàn jiē de yǐng xiǎng.
This is an indirect influence.
间接。
Tā yòng le jiàn jiē de fāng shì huí dá wèn tí.
He answered the question in an indirect way.
间接。
Tā men zhī jiān de jiāo liú hěn jiàn jiē.
The communication between them is very indirect.

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.

间jiānbetween

接jiēconnect

间 (between) and 接 (connect) combine to describe a connection that is not direct.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

扌妾接

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

妾

妾qiè接jiē

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

The left part 扌 shows a hand, matching the sense of receiving something in the hand, while 妾 gives the character its sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Abstract Concepts

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