务农 (wù nóng) — to farm, to be engaged in agriculture

Definition

A formal verb meaning 'to farm / work in agriculture,' typically used about someone's career or life choice, not daily farm chores. Pairs naturally with 回家/一辈子 to describe a livelihood.

verb
to farmto be engaged in agriculture

Examples

  • 务农。
    Tā dà xué bì yè hòu huí jiā wù nóng le.
    After graduating from college, he returned home to farm.
  • ，。
    Tā wù le shí duō nián nóng, jīng yàn fēng fù.
    He has farmed for over ten years and is very experienced.
  • 务农，。
    Hěn duō nián qīng rén bú yuàn yì wù nóng, dōu qù chéng lǐ dǎ gōng le.
    Many young people are unwilling to farm and go to work in cities instead.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

务wùattend to
农nóngfarming

The attending in 务 and the farming in 农 combine to mean work at agriculture.

Characters in this word

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 務; 务 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
敄
敄wù務wù
Same sound today

In the traditional form 務, 力 shows the sense of strength or effort, while 敄 gives the sound. The simplified 务 is a later shorthand.

Open 务 →

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.

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 →

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