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单边 (dān biān) — unilateral

Definition

Means 'unilateral' (one side only), typically of policies, actions, or agreements. Contrast with 片面 (an adjective for one-sided views or information) and 双边 / 多边 (bilateral / multilateral).

adjective
unilateral

Examples

  • 单边。
    Zhè ge guó jiā cǎi qǔ le yì zhǒng dān biān zhèng cè.
    This country adopted a unilateral policy.
  • 单边。
    dān biān Zhǔ yì zài guó jì shàng bú shòu huān yíng.
    Unilateralism is not welcome internationally.
  • 单边。
    Tā men zuò chū le dān biān chéng nuò.
    They made a unilateral commitment.

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.

单dānone
边biānside

单 “one” narrows 边 “side”, giving the idea of only one side.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 單; 单 is its simplified writing.

The form 單 originally pictured a Y-shaped wooden stick with two stones on top.

Open 单 →

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 邊; 边 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辶Written in full as辵chuòwalking; movement
Sound part声符shēngfú
臱
臱mián邊biān(r)
Same sound today

The traditional form 邊 pairs 辶 (walking; movement) with the sound part 臱; the simplified 边 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 边 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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