增援 (zēng yuán) — to reinforce (by sending additional personnel o… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A military term meaning to send additional troops or resources to strengthen a position. Used mostly in formal/written contexts such as news reports and official statements.

verb

to reinforce (by sending additional personnel or resources)

Examples

增援，。
Qián fāng xū yào zēng yuán, wǒ men dé gǎn jǐn chū fā.
The front line needs reinforcements—we have to leave immediately.
，。
Jǐng chá zēng le yuán, hěn kuài jiù kòng zhì zhù le jú miàn.
The police sent reinforcements and quickly brought the situation under control.
增援。
Zǒng bù jué dìng zài pài yí gè lián qù zēng yuán.
Headquarters decided to send another company to reinforce.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

The sense of adding in 增 joins the sense of aid in 援, giving the meaning of reinforce.

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.

土曾增

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

曾

曾céng增zēng

Same sound today

增 uses 土 (earth) to show that things grow in earth or are built from earth, and uses 曾 for the sound. This gives the sense of adding or increasing.

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

扌爰援

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

爰

爰yuán援yuán

Same sound today

In 援, the left 扌 (written fully as 手) is a hand, and the right 爰 tells you how it sounds.

Appears in

Military & Defense

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