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合约 (hé yuē) — contract (commercial or legal agreement); treaty (between nations)

Definition

合约 is a formal written noun for 'contract' or 'treaty'. Of the near-synonyms 合同 and 契约 are also 'contract' (合同 everyday business, 契约 more legal/formal), while 条约 and 公约 are specifically 'treaty' between nations or groups.

noun
contract (commercial or legal agreement)treaty (between nations)
Measure word · 份

Examples

  • 合约。
    Wǒ men qiān le yí fèn hé yuē.
    We signed a contract.
  • 合约。
    Liǎng guó dài biǎo zài huì yì shàng tǎo lùn le mào yì hé yuē.
    Representatives from the two countries discussed the trade treaty at the meeting.
  • 合约，。
    Zhí xíng hé yuē qián, bì xū zǐ xì yuè dú suǒ yǒu tiáo kuǎn.
    Before executing the contract, you must carefully read all the terms.

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.

合héjoint
约yuēagreement

合 means joint and 约 means agreement, giving the sense of a joint agreement.

Characters in this word

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

合 shows 亼 and 口 arranged as two mouths speaking together.

Open 合 →

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 約; 约 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìrope
Sound part声符shēngfú
勺
勺sháo約yuē
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 約 uses 糸, a rope, for its meaning and 勺 for its sound; the simplified 约 is a later shorthand.

Open 约 →
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