中线 (zhōng xiàn) — half-way line (in sports); median line (in geometry or road markings)

Definition

中线 is literally "middle line." In sports it means the half-way line dividing a court or field; in geometry it means a median (line from a vertex to the midpoint of the opposite side).

noun
half-way line (in sports)median line (in geometry or road markings)
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 中线。
    Lán qiú chǎng shàng de zhōng xiàn bǎ chǎng dì fēn chéng liǎng bàn.
    The half-way line on the basketball court divides the court into two halves.
  • 中线，。
    Sān jiǎo xíng yǒu sān tiáo zhōng xiàn, tā men xiāng jiāo yú zhòng xīn.
    A triangle has three median lines, which intersect at the centroid.
  • 中线。
    Zhè tiáo gōng lù de zhōng xiàn shì huáng sè de.
    The median line on this highway is yellow.

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
线xiànline

中 means middle and 线 means line, so the word names a line running through the middle.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 線; 线 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糹Written in full as糸mì
Sound part声符shēngfú
泉
泉quán線xiàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 線 uses 糹 (silk/thread) to show the meaning and 泉 to suggest the sound; the simplified 线 is a later shorthand.

Open 线 →

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