中期 (zhōng qī) — middle period, medium-term | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

中期 refers to the middle phase of a longer period (a project, semester, plan) — broader than 学期 / 项目 middle stretches. Contrasts with 中途 (midway during a process) and 中叶 (middle period of a century/era).

noun

middle periodmedium-term

Examples

中期。
Zhè ge xiàng mù de zhōng qī mù biāo yǐ jīng què dìng le.
The medium-term goals for this project have been set.
中期。
Wǒ men zài xué qī zhōng qī yǒu yí cì kǎo shì.
We have an exam in the middle of the semester.
中期。
Gōng sī zhì dìng le zhōng qī fā zhǎn jì huà.
The company has formulated a medium-term development plan.

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.

中zhōngmiddle

期qīperiod

中 marks the middle, and 期 refers to a period of time.

Characters in this word

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

The original picture showed a flagpole with a drum in the middle, set up in the center of a field.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

其

其qí期qī

Same sound today

The original form paired 其 for its sound with 日 (sun). A related form changed that sun to 月, and this later developed into 期.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 Time (Abstract)

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