世界史 (shì jiè shǐ) — world history

Definition

noun
world history

Examples

  • 世界史。
    Wǒ dà xué shí xuǎn xiū le shì jiè shǐ.
    I took world history as an elective in college.
  • 世界史。
    shì jiè shǐ Shì yì mén fēi cháng zhòng yào de xué kē.
    World history is a very important subject.
  • 世界史。
    Zhè běn shū gài shù le cóng gǔ dài dào xiàn dài de shì jiè shǐ.
    This book outlines world history from ancient times to the modern era.

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.

世界world
世shìtime界jièrealm
联合Side by side
史shǐhistory

世界 world and 史 history combine to give world history.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 世 →

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
田田tiánfield
Sound part声符shēngfú
介
介jiè界jiè
Same sound today

界 is built from 田 (field) and 介. 田 carries the meaning, while 介 gives the sound.

Open 界 →

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

The old drawing showed someone holding a flag-like or writing tool, indicating the act of recording events; the exact inner shape is unclear.

Open 史 →

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