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儿童 (ér tóng) — child

Definition

Formal/written word for 'child' (often plural: 'children'), commonly seen in schools, media, and official contexts. More formal than everyday 孩子 or 小孩儿, and less personal than 儿子 ('son').

noun
child
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 儿童。
    Zhè ge ér tóng zài gōng yuán lǐ wán.
    This child is playing in the park.
  • 儿童。
    ér tóng Xǐ huan zài cǎo dì shàng pǎo.
    Children like to run on the grass.
  • 。
    Xué xiào lǐ yǒu sān bǎi gè ér tóng.
    There are three hundred children in the school.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

儿érchild
童tóngchild

儿 and 童 both mean child, so together they refer to a child or children.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Open 儿 →

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

  • 䇂䇂䇂chisel
  • 見見jiànkneeling person with a huge eye

The form 童 comes from a pairing of 䇂 (a chisel) with 見 (a kneeling person with a huge eye), depicting a person having an eye gouged out.

Open 童 →
Appears in
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