原状 (yuán zhuàng) — original state, previous condition

Definition

noun

original stateprevious condition

原状。
Tā men yāo qiú huī fù yuán zhuàng.
They demand to restore the original state.
，原状。
Hé tong jié shù hòu, gōng sī jiāng yí qiè huī fù yuán zhuàng.
After the contract ends, the company will restore everything to its original state.
原状。
Zhè ge fáng jiān yǐ jīng wú fǎ huī fù yuán zhuàng le.
This room can no longer be restored to its original state.

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.

原 (original) + 状 (state) means the earlier condition.

Characters in this word

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

原 combines 泉 (spring) and 厂 (cliff), picturing a spring bursting from a cliff-side, which gives the sense of origin or source.

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 狀; 状 is its simplified writing.

爿犬狀

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

爿

爿pán狀zhuàng

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

The traditional form 狀 pairs 犬 (dog) with 爿 as a sound component; the simplified 状 is a shorthand, not the historical shape.

Appears in