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喂养 (wèi yǎng) — to feed and care for (a baby, pet, domestic animal)

Definition

喂养 focuses on feeding and routine care for dependents (babies, pets, farm animals). Use 抚养 for raising a child over time, and 饲养 for breeding/livestock rearing.

verb
to feed and care for (a baby, pet, domestic animal)

Examples

  • 喂养。
    Tā měi tiān wèi yǎng bǎo bao sān cì.
    She feeds the baby three times a day.
  • 喂养。
    Wǒ měi tiān zǎo shàng wèi yǎng wǒ de māo.
    I feed my cat every morning.
  • 喂养。
    Zhè zhǒng sì liào kě yǐ yòng lái wèi yǎng jī.
    This kind of feed can be used to feed chickens.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

喂wèifeed
养yǎngraise

喂 gives feeding and 养 gives raising, so the word means to feed and care for something.

Characters in this word

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
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
畏
畏wèi喂wèi
Same sound today

喂 is built from 口 (mouth) on the left and 畏 on the right, which gives the sound.

Open 喂 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 養; 养 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 養 uses 羊 as a sound part and 食 as a meaning part.

Open 养 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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