农历 (nóng lì) — traditional Chinese calendar (also known as the…

Definition

农历 is the traditional Chinese calendar used for festivals like 春节 and traditional birthdays. 日历 is any general calendar; 阴历 is the same system as 农历 but emphasizes its astronomical basis.

noun

traditional Chinese calendar (also known as the lunar calendar)

Examples

农历。
Měi nián chūn jié de rì qī shì gēn jù nóng lì jì suàn de.
The date of Spring Festival each year is calculated according to the lunar calendar.
农历，。
Wǒ nǎi nai zhī jì de zì jǐ de nóng lì shēng rì, bú jì de gōng lì shēng rì.
My grandmother only remembers her lunar calendar birthday, not the solar calendar birthday.
农历。
Zhōng guó de zhòng yào jié rì dōu lái zì nóng lì.
Important Chinese festivals all come from the lunar calendar.

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.

农nóngagriculture

历lìcalendar

农 (agriculture) and 历 (calendar) combine to mean the calendar tied to farming seasons.

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 農; 农 is its simplified writing.

林林línvegetation
辰辰chénhoe

The traditional form 農 comes from 林 (vegetation) and 辰 (a hoe), showing a hoe among vegetation to remove weeds; the simplified 农 is a later abbreviation.

Open 农 →

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 歷; 历 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 历 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (简历, 经历) it is 歷; in others (日历) it is 曆.

厤止歷

Meaning part形符xíngfú

止止zhǐ

Sound part声符shēngfú

厤

厤lì歷lì

Same sound today

The form 歷 pairs 止 with the sound part 厤.