北约 (Běi yuē) — NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

Definition

noun

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

北约。
Běi yuē Shì xī fāng zhòng yào de jūn shì lián méng.
NATO is an important military alliance in the West.
北约。
Zhè ge guó jiā zuì jìn shēn qǐng jiā rù Běi yuē.
This country recently applied to join NATO.
北约。
Běi yuē Chéng yuán guó dìng qī jǔ xíng lián hé jūn yǎn.
NATO member states hold joint military exercises regularly.

Characters in this word

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

The form 北 shows two people standing back to back. It originally meant 'back'.

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 約; 约 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìrope

Sound part声符shēngfú

勺

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

The traditional form 約 uses 糸, a rope, for its meaning and 勺 for its sound; the simplified 约 is a later shorthand.

Appears in