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供养 (gōng yǎng) — to provide for; to support (especially one's parents or elders); to supply; to furnish (material support)

Definition

供养 means to support or provide for — especially parents, elders, or dependents in one's care. Stronger and more concrete than the general 提供 ('to provide/offer'), and more long-term/financial than 供 ('to supply').

verb
to provide forto support (especially one's parents or elders)to supplyto furnish (material support)

Examples

  • 供养。
    Tā gōng zuò hòu jiù kāi shǐ gōng yǎng fù mǔ le.
    After starting work, he began to support his parents.
  • 供养。
    Zhè xiē wù zī yòng lái gōng yǎng qián xiàn de shì bīng.
    These supplies are used to provision the soldiers at the front.
  • 供养。
    Quán jiā de shēng huó quán kào tā yí gè rén gōng yǎng.
    The whole family's livelihood relies entirely on him to provide.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

供gòngsupply
养yǎngsupport

Combines 供 meaning supply with 养 meaning support to mean provide for someone.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
共
共gòng供gòng
Same sound today

供 is made of 亻, a person, and 共, which gives the sound gòng.

Open 供 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 養; 养 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 養 uses 羊 as a sound part and 食 as a meaning part.

Open 养 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Family & Kinship

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