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高度 (gāo dù) — (noun) height, altitude; (adjective) high-level, high-degree; highly

Definition

高度 is a formal word for measurable altitude or height (airplanes, mountains), distinct from the everyday 高. As an adjective it means 'high-degree / highly,' like 高度评价.

noun
heightaltitude
adjective
high-levelhigh-degreehighly
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 高度。
    Zhè zhǒng zhí wù de gāo dù zhǐ yǒu shí lí mǐ.
    This plant's height is only ten centimeters.
  • 高度。
    Wǒ men gāo dù píng jià le tā de gōng zuò.
    We highly praised his work.
  • 高度。
    Fēi jī zài wàn mǐ gāo dù fēi xíng.
    The airplane is flying at an altitude of ten thousand meters.

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gāohigh
度dùdegree

高 (high) and 度 (degree) combine to mean height or a high degree.

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
又又yòuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
石
石shí度dù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

度 has 又 (hand) and a changed form of 石; 石 gives a related sound, and the hand is tied to using the hand as a reference for measurement.

Open 度 →
Appears in
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