增长 (zēng zhǎng) — to grow, to increase | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

增长 (zēngzhǎng) means 'to grow / increase' — typically for amounts, numbers, or abstract things like income, population, or knowledge. Closer to 提高 for measurable rise than 增加 (which emphasizes adding on) or 增强 (which strengthens a quality).

verb

to growto increase

Examples

增长。
Jīn nián gōng sī de shōu rù zēng zhǎng le hěn duō.
The company's revenue has grown a lot this year.
增长。
Zhè ge chéng shì de rén kǒu zēng zhǎng dé hěn kuài.
The population of this city is growing very fast.
增长。
Duō dú shū néng ràng nǐ de zhī shi bú duàn zēng zhǎng.
Reading more can make your knowledge keep growing.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

增zēngincrease

The 增 means increase and 长 means grow, so together they mean rise or expand.

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.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 4 HSK 2.0 Level 4 Change & Process

Browse more HSK 4 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.