参众两院 (cān zhòng liǎng yuàn) — the two houses of a bicameral legislature (e.g., the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives)

Definition

Literally 'the Senate (参议院) and the House (众议院)', used as a collective term for the two chambers of a bicameral legislature, typically the U.S. Congress.

noun
the two houses of a bicameral legislature (e.g., the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives)

Examples

  • 参众两院。
    Měi guó cān zhòng liǎng yuàn yóu cān yì yuàn hé zhòng yì yuàn zǔ chéng.
    The U.S. Congress is composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
  • 参众两院。
    cān zhòng liǎng yuàn Tōng guò le xīn de jīng jì fǎ àn.
    The two houses passed a new economic bill.
  • 参众两院。
    Guān yú yù suàn de tí àn xū yào cān zhòng liǎng yuàn pī zhǔn.
    The budget proposal needs approval from both houses.

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.

参众Senate and House
参cānSenate众zhòngHouse
联合Side by side
两院two houses
两liǎngtwo院yuànhouse
偏正Modifier + head

“参” and “众” name the Senate and House, while “两院” means the two chambers, together referring to both legislative bodies.

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 參; 参 is its simplified writing.

For simplified 参, the story belongs to traditional 參, which combines 晶 (stars), 光 (light), and 彡 (rays) to show the Three Stars; one reading takes 光 as a kneeling person looking up.

Open 参 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 眾; 众 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 眾 shows three people under a sun-like shape, meaning a crowd gathered under the sun; the simplified 众 is a later shorthand.

Open 众 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 兩; 两 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 兩 is described as combining 一 and 㒳. The simplified 两 is a later abbreviation.

Open 两 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
完
完wán院yuàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

院 is built from 阝, written in full as 阜, and 完, which gives the sound.

Open 院 →

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