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中队 (zhōng duì) — (military) company, squadron; a unit composed of several groups

Definition

A military unit roughly equal to a 'company' in Western armies, or a 'squadron' (especially in air force or police contexts). It is composed of several 班 (platoons/squads).

noun
(military) companysquadrona unit composed of several groups

Examples

  • 中队。
    Zhè ge zhōng duì zài yǎn xí zhōng biǎo xiàn hěn chū sè.
    This squadron performed very well in the exercise.
  • 中队。
    Tā shì wǒ men zhōng duì de duì zhǎng.
    He is the captain of our squadron.
  • 中队。
    Nà ge zhōng duì yǒu wǔ shí míng shì bīng.
    That company has fifty soldiers.

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
队duìunit/team

中 “middle” and 队 “unit” form a mid-level military unit.

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 隊; 队 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
㒸
㒸㒸隊duì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 隊 has 阜 as the meaning part and 㒸 as the sound part.

Open 队 →
Appears in
Military & Defense

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