伍长 (wǔ cháng) — (historical) leader of a five-man squad in anci…

Definition

noun

(historical) leader of a five-man squad in ancient Chinese military

Measure word · 位

，伍长。
Zài gǔ dài jūn duì zhōng, wǔ cháng fù zé guǎn lǐ wǔ míng shì bīng.
In ancient armies, the squad leader was responsible for managing five soldiers.
，伍长。
Lì shǐ shàng, wǔ cháng shì zuì dī jí de jūn guān zhī yī.
Historically, the squad leader was one of the lowest-ranking officers.
《》，伍长。
Wǒ zài dú 《sūn zǐ bīng fǎ》 shí, kàn dào le wǔ cháng zhè ge cí.
I came across the term 'squad leader' while reading The Art of War.

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.

伍wǔfive-man squad

伍 names a five-man squad and 长 names its leader, together meaning leader of that unit.

Characters in this word

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

亻五伍

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

五

Same sound today

伍 is written with 亻, a person, and 五, which gives the sound.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

Appears in