TongTong
Sign in

司令部 (sī lìng bù) — headquarters; command (the organizational unit)

Definition

noun
headquarterscommand (the organizational unit)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 司令部。
    Jūn duì de sī lìng bù shè zài yí gè mì mì de dì fāng.
    The army's headquarters is located in a secret place.
  • 司令部。
    Tā jiē dào le lái zì sī lìng bù de zhí jiē mìng lìng.
    He received a direct order from headquarters.
  • 司令部。
    Xīn de sī lìng bù dà lóu jiāng yú míng nián wán gōng.
    The new headquarters building will be completed next year.

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.

司令manage orders
司sīmanage令lìngorder
动宾Verb + object
部bùdepartment

“司令” command role plus “部” department: the commander's department.

Characters in this word

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

The evidence is inconclusive: one suggestion sees 司 as a mouth giving orders beside a mark of authority, another reads that mark as a hand, and another sees it as a reversed older form.

Open 司 →

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

  • 亼亼jí
  • 卩卩jié

In 令, the upper 亼 is an open mouth and the lower 卩 is a kneeling person, together showing someone giving orders.

Open 令 →

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
邑邑yì
Sound part声符shēngfú
咅
咅pǒu部bù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

部 pairs 咅, which gives the sound, with 邑. It originally named a place in today's Gansu.

Open 部 →
Appears in
Military & Defense

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.