后备军 (hòu bèi jūn) — (military) reserve force; reserves; (figurative) reserve pool of talent; backup workforce

Definition

Literally 'reserve troops', used for both the military reserves and a figurative 'reserve pool' of talent or workers kept ready in case more are needed.

noun
(military) reserve forcereserves(figurative) reserve pool of talentbackup workforce
Measure word · 支

Examples

  • 后备军，。
    Guó jiā xū yào jiā qiáng hòu bèi jūn de jiàn shè, yǐ bèi bù shí zhī xū.
    The country needs to strengthen its reserve forces to prepare for emergencies.
  • 后备军。
    Zhè xiē nián qīng de gōng chéng shī shì kē jì háng yè de hòu bèi jūn.
    These young engineers are the reserve talent pool for the tech industry.
  • 后备军。
    Qiú duì de hòu bèi jūn zài xùn liàn zhōng biǎo xiàn fēi cháng chū sè.
    The team's reserves performed very well in training.

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.

后备reserve
后hòulater备bèiprepare
偏正Modifier + head
军jūnarmy

后备 means 'prepared for later use' and 军 means 'army', together referring to a reserve force.

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 後; 后 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 後 showed 夊 (foot) bound by 幺 (thread), a foot caught by a rope and lagging behind; the simplified 后 is a later abbreviation, and 后 also has a different meaning.

Open 后 →

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 備; 备 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 備 shows a person carrying a quiver, matching the meaning 'ready; prepared'; the simplified 备 is a later abbreviation.

Open 备 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 軍; 军 is its simplified writing.

  • 車車jūcart; chariot
  • 勹勹bāoto surround

In the traditional form 軍, 車 shows the chariot sense, while the part now written 勹 is a sound part, not the 'surround' 勹. Simplified 军 is a later shorthand.

Open 军 →

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