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中途 (zhōng tú) — midway, halfway (during a journey, process, or event)

Definition

中途 marks a point partway through a journey, process, or event — emphasis on interruption or pause. Distinct from 中期, which names a longer middle phase (中期 the time span vs 中途 the moment within it).

noun
midwayhalfway (during a journey, process, or event)

Examples

  • 中途。
    Fēi jī zài zhōng tú jīng tíng shàng hǎi.
    The plane made a stopover in Shanghai midway.
  • 中途。
    Wǒ men zhōng tú xiū xi le shí fēn zhōng.
    We took a ten-minute break midway.
  • 中途。
    Tā yīn wèi shòu shāng zhōng tú tuì chū le bǐ sài.
    He withdrew from the competition midway due to injury.

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
途túroad

“中” is the middle and “途” is the road or journey, so the sense is midway.

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
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
余
余yú途
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

途 is made from 辶 (written fully as 辵), a walking part, and 余, which gives the sound.

Open 途 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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