兵役 (bīng yì) — military service | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

military service

兵役。
Tā fú le liǎng nián bīng yì.
He served two years of military service.
。
Měi gè chéng nián nán xìng dōu yào fú bīng yì.
Every adult male must perform military service.
兵役。
Zhè ge guó jiā qǔ xiāo le yì wù bīng yì.
This country has abolished compulsory military service.

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.

兵bīngmilitary/soldier

役yìservice/duty

兵 refers to military matters and 役 to service or duty, together meaning military service.

Characters in this word

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

兵 combines 斤, a short axe, with 廾, two hands, showing a pair of hands holding a weapon.

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

彳殳役

役 pairs 彳 (movement) with 殳 (a weapon like a spear) to show someone moving with a weapon to guard a border, giving the idea of a duty or task.

Appears in