高峰 (gāo fēng) — (mountain) peak, summit; peak (of a career, development, etc.); rush hour (traffic peak)

Definition

高峰 covers both literal mountain peaks and figurative peaks (career, traffic). Lighter and more common than 巅峰, which sounds more dramatic and literary.

noun
(mountain) peaksummitpeak (of a career, development, etc.)rush hour (traffic peak)
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 高峰
    Dēng shān duì yòng le sān tiān cái dēng shàng gāo fēng.
    The climbing team took three days to reach the summit.
  • 高峰
    Tā sān shí suì jiù dá dào le shì yè de gāo fēng.
    He reached the peak of his career at age thirty.
  • 高峰
    Shàng xià bān gāo fēng shí, dì tiě fēi cháng yōng jǐ.
    During rush hour, the subway is very crowded.

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.

高 (high) and 峰 (peak) combine to mean a high peak or summit.

Characters in this word

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

高 was drawn as a tall building.

Open 高 →

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
shānmountain
Sound part声符shēngfú
pángfēng
Same sound today

峰 combines 山 (mountain) with 夆, which gives the character its sound.

Open 峰 →

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