乡村 (xiāng cūn) — countryside, rural area; village

Definition

Literary/formal term for 'countryside, rural area.' Compared with the everyday 农村, it sounds more written and is often used in travel, poetry, or descriptive prose rather than neutral daily speech.

noun

countrysiderural areavillage

Measure word · 个

Examples

乡村。
Wǒ shǔ jià xiǎng qù xiāng cūn zhù jǐ tiān.
I want to go stay in the countryside for a few days during summer vacation.
乡村。
xiāng cūn De shēng huó bǐ chéng shì ān jìng duō le.
Life in the countryside is much quieter than in the city.
乡村。
Zhè ge xiāng cūn yǒu hěn duō gǔ lǎo de fáng zi.
This village has many old houses.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

乡xiāngrural place

村cūnvillage

Both 乡 and 村 refer to rural places, so together they mean the countryside or a village.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鄉; 乡 is its simplified writing.

𠨍𠨍𠨍two people facing each other
皀皀jía round-mouthed food vessel

The traditional form 鄉 combines two people facing each other with a round-mouthed food vessel, depicting a feast. The village meaning is connected to this feasting event.

Open 乡 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

木寸村

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

寸

寸cùn村cūn

Same sound today

村 pairs 木 (tree) with 寸 as a sound hint; its origin is unclear.

Open 村 →

Appears in