中校 (zhōng xiào) — lieutenant colonel (military rank in army, air force, marines); commander (military rank in navy)

Definition

noun
lieutenant colonel (military rank in army, air force, marines)commander (military rank in navy)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 中校。
    Wǒ de shū shu shì yì míng zhōng xiào.
    My uncle is a lieutenant colonel.
  • 中校。
    Zhè wèi zhōng xiào zài hǎi jūn fú yì le èr shí nián.
    This commander served in the navy for twenty years.
  • 中校。
    Tā jīn nián shēng dào le zhōng xiào.
    He was promoted to lieutenant colonel this year.

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
校xiàoofficer rank

中 contributes middle and 校 officer rank, together giving the middle field grade.

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.

Open 中 →

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
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
交
交jiāo校jiào
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

校 is built from 木 (tree) on the left and 交 on the right, which supplies the sound.

Open 校 →
Appears in
Military & Defense

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