公里 (gōng lǐ) — kilometer | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Standard word for kilometer (km). Pairs with 公斤 (kilogram) as the everyday metric units of distance vs weight.

classifier

kilometer

Examples

公里。
Cóng jiā dào gōng sī yǒu wǔ gōng lǐ yuǎn.
It is five kilometers from home to the office.
公里。
Zhè tiáo lù cháng yì bǎi gōng lǐ.
This road is 100 kilometers long.
公里。
Wǒ men kāi chē kāi le sān bǎi gōng lǐ cái dào.
We drove 300 kilometers before arriving.

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.

公 indicates the metric system and 里 is a traditional unit of distance; together they name the kilometer.

Characters in this word

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

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

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 裡; 里 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 里 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (里, 里面) it is 裡; in others (公里) it is 里 or 裏.

衤里裡

Meaning part形符xíngfú

衤Written in full as衣yīclothes

Sound part声符shēngfú

里

里lǐ裡lǐ

Same sound today

The form 裡 pairs 衤 (clothes) with 里 as a sound component.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 4 HSK 2.0 Level 4 Units & Measurement 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 4 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.