养老院 (yǎng lǎo yuàn) — nursing home

Definition

noun

nursing home

Measure word · 家

养老院。
Zhè jiā yǎng lǎo yuàn tí gōng zhuān yè de yī liáo fú wù.
This nursing home provides professional medical services.
养老院。
Nà wèi lǎo rén zhù zài yì jiā yǎng lǎo yuàn lǐ.
That elderly person lives in a nursing home.
养老院。
Zhè jiā yǎng lǎo yuàn de hù lǐ rén yuán hěn fù zé.
The nursing staff at this nursing home is very responsible.

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.

养老support the elderly

动宾Verb + object

院yuàninstitution

养老院 puts 养老 (support the old) with 院 (institution), naming a place where elderly people are cared for.

Characters in this word

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.

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

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

阝完院

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阝Written in full as阜fù

Sound part声符shēngfú

完

完wán院yuàn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

院 is built from 阝, written in full as 阜, and 完, which gives the sound.

Appears in