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古旧 (gǔ jiù) — antiquated, archaic

Definition

Refers to objects (furniture, books, buildings) that are old and showing their age — emphasizes physical wear and outdated appearance, not just age itself. Compare with 古老, which describes living things or ongoing things that are long-established.

adjective
antiquatedarchaic

Examples

  • 古旧。
    Zhè xiē gǔ jiù de jiā jù yǐ jīng yǒu shàng bǎi nián de lì shǐ le.
    These antiquated pieces of furniture have a history of hundreds of years.
  • 古旧。
    Nà zuò gǔ jiù de sì miào xī yǐn le hěn duō yóu kè.
    That archaic temple attracted many tourists.
  • 古旧，。
    Tā jiā bǎo cún zhe yì běn gǔ jiù de shū, fēng miàn yǐ jīng biàn huáng le.
    His family keeps an antiquated book, whose cover has turned yellow.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

古gǔold
旧jiùold

古 and 旧 both mean old, so together they describe something antiquated.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

One reading of 古 sees a shield-like shape above an open mark, showing strength and firmness. Another sees a person spitting out bad-tasting food.

Open 古 →

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 舊; 旧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
雈雈huánowl
Sound part声符shēngfú
臼
臼jiù舊jiù
Same sound today

The traditional form of 旧 is 舊, which shows 雈, an owl, above 臼, which gives the sound.

Open 旧 →
Appears in
History

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