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受灾 (shòu zāi) — to be hit by a natural disaster; to suffer a disaster

Definition

受灾 is passive — it focuses on a place or group being struck by a natural disaster, unlike 受伤 (people being hurt) or 受害 (broader harm from any cause). Compared with 遭殃, 受灾 is more formal and used in news/official contexts.

verb
to be hit by a natural disasterto suffer a disaster

Examples

  • 受灾。
    Zhè cì hóng shuǐ shǐ hěn duō dì qū shòu zāi le.
    This flood caused many areas to be hit by disaster.
  • ，受灾。
    Dì zhèn zhī hòu, zhèng fǔ lì kè bāng zhù shòu zāi de cūn mín.
    After the earthquake, the government immediately helped the disaster-stricken villagers.
  • 受灾，。
    Nà zuò chéng shì shòu zāi yán zhòng, hěn duō rén shī qù le jiā.
    That city was severely hit by disaster; many people lost their homes.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

受shòusuffer/receive
灾zāidisaster

受 conveys suffering or receiving, while 灾 names a disaster, giving the sense of being hit by calamity.

Characters in this word

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

受 possibly combines 爪 and 又 as hands with 舟 as a boat, to show handing something over.

Open 受 →

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 災; 灾 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡿧
𡿧𡿧災zāi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 災 combines 火 (fire) with 𡿧, an old picture of flowing water that supplied the sound; the simplified 灾 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 灾 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6

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