候机楼 (hòu jī lóu) — airport terminal; departure lounge

Definition

noun
airport terminaldeparture lounge
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 候机楼。
    Wǒ men zài hòu jī lóu lǐ děng le liǎng gè xiǎo shí.
    We waited in the airport terminal for two hours.
  • 候机楼。
    Qǐng dào guó jì hòu jī lóu bàn lǐ dēng jī shǒu xù.
    Please go to the international terminal to check in.
  • 候机楼。
    Zhè ge hòu jī lóu de shè shī fēi cháng xiàn dài huà.
    The facilities in this airport terminal are very modern.

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.

候机wait for a plane
候hòuwait机jīplane
动宾Verb + object
楼lóubuilding

“候机” means waiting for a plane and “楼” means building, so it names the terminal building.

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rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
矦
矦hóu候hòu
Same sound today

候 combines 亻, relating to people, with 矦, which gives the sound.

Open 候 →

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
木木mùtree; wood
Sound part声符shēngfú
几
几jǐ机jī
Same sound today

The left part is 木 (tree; wood), and the right part 几 gives the sound.

Open 机 →

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 樓; 楼 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
婁
婁lóu樓lóu
Same sound today

The traditional form 樓 pairs 木 (tree) with 婁 as its sound part; the simplified 楼 is a later shorthand.

Open 楼 →

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