农村 (nóng cūn) — rural area, countryside

Definition

农村 refers to rural areas as an administrative/regional concept (as in 'urban-rural divide'), broader than 村 (a single village).

noun

rural areacountryside

Measure word · 个

Examples

农村。
Tā cóng xiǎo zhù zài nóng cūn.
He has lived in the countryside since childhood.
农村。
nóng cūn De fēng jǐng hěn měi.
The scenery in the countryside is very beautiful.
农村。
Xiàn zài de nóng cūn bǐ yǐ qián hǎo le hěn duō.
The countryside is now much better than before.

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

村cūnvillage

农 is farming life, and 村 is a village, giving the countryside.

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.

木寸村

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

寸

寸cùn村cūn

Same sound today

村 pairs 木 (tree) with 寸 as a sound hint; its origin is unclear.

Open 村 →

Appears in