埋葬 (mái zàng) — to bury | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

埋葬 is the formal compound 'to bury,' used for both literal burial (of the dead or objects) and figurative burial (memories, past). It is more literary than plain 埋; use 葬 alone for burying the dead specifically.

verb

to bury

Examples

埋葬。
Tā men jué dìng bǎ gǔ huī mái zàng zài gù xiāng de shān pō shàng.
They decided to bury the ashes on the hillside of their hometown.
埋葬。
Kǎo gǔ xué jiā zài shā mò lǐ mái zàng le yí gè shí jiān jiāo náng.
The archaeologists buried a time capsule in the desert.
埋葬。
Tā shì tú bǎ tòng kǔ de huí yì mái zàng zài xīn dǐ shēn chù.
He tried to bury the painful memories deep in his heart.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

埋 “bury” and 葬 “bury” combine to mean put in the ground.

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

艹Written in full as艸cǎoplant

Sound part声符shēngfú

貍

貍lí埋mái

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

An earlier form paired 艹 (plant) with 貍 (lí) for sound. The form 埋 later shows earth with a sound part.

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

茻茻mǎnggrass
死死sǐdead person

In 葬, 死, a dead person, is shown in 茻, grass, to picture burying the dead in grass.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.