地对空 (dì duì kōng) — ground-to-air, surface-to-air (military term)

Definition

A military term meaning 'ground-to-air' (missiles, weapons fired from the ground at airborne targets).

adjective

ground-to-airsurface-to-air (military term)

Examples

地对空。
Zhè zhǒng dì duì kōng dǎo dàn kě yǐ jī zhòng gāo kōng mù biāo.
This type of surface-to-air missile can hit high-altitude targets.
地对空。
Jūn duì bù shǔ le zuì xīn de dì duì kōng xì tǒng.
The military deployed the latest ground-to-air system.
地对空。
dì duì kōng Wǔ qì zài xiàn dài zhàn zhēng zhōng fēi cháng zhòng yào.
Ground-to-air weapons are very important in modern warfare.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

地dìground

对空toward the air

对duìtoward空kōngair

动宾Verb + object

地对空 describes 地 as toward 空, giving a ground-to-air sense.

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.

土也地

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

也

也yě地dì

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

地 is built from 土 (earth) and 也, which gives its sound.

Open 地 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 對; 对 is its simplified writing.

丵丵zhuótool for digging
土土tǔearth
又又yòuhand

For the traditional form 對, the shape comes from an early drawing of 丵 (a digging tool), 土 (earth), and 又 (a hand); it may have meant developing land.

Open 对 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

穴工空

Meaning part形符xíngfú

穴穴xuécave, hole

Sound part声符shēngfú

工

工gōng空kōng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

空 is built from 穴, a cave or hole, and 工, which gives the sound.

Open 空 →

Appears in