回电 (huí diàn) — to reply by telegram, to wire back | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

回电 means to reply by telegram or telex — a dated, formal term from the era of wired communication. Today it survives mostly in fixed business phrases like 请回电确认.

verb

to reply by telegramto wire back

Examples

回电。
Tā zuó tiān gěi wǒ huí diàn le.
He wired me back yesterday.
，。
Tā zhī huí guò yí cì diàn, zhī hòu jiù méi le xiāo xi.
He only replied by telegram once, and then there was no news.
回电。
Qǐng jǐn kuài huí diàn què rèn.
Please reply by telegram to confirm as soon as possible.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

电diàntelegram

回 'reply' and 电 'telegram' mean answering by telegram.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

回 comes from a drawing of a spiral, showing something turning around.

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 電; 电 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

雨雨yǔrain

Sound part声符shēngfú

申

申shēn電diàn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For the traditional form 電, 雨 (rain) sits with 申, read shēn and meaning lightning.

Appears in

Communication & Speech Phones & Telecom

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