士兵 (shì bīng) — soldier | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

士兵 is a common word for an individual soldier. Use 兵 for soldiers as a collective (the troops), 战士 for a heroic or combat-focused soldier.

noun

soldier

Measure word · 个

Examples

士兵。
Nà xiē shì bīng zhèng zài cāo chǎng shàng xùn liàn.
Those soldiers are training on the drill ground.
。
Tā céng jīng shì yì míng yōu xiù de shì bīng.
He was once an excellent soldier.
。
Zhè wèi nián qīng de shì bīng fēi cháng yǒng gǎn.
This young soldier is very brave.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

士shìsoldier

兵bīngsoldier

士 and 兵 both denote a fighting person, yielding 'soldier'.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 士 comes from a simple drawing of a war axe. The character later came to mean a soldier, officer, or intellectual.

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

斤斤jīna short axe
廾廾gǒng2 hands

兵 combines 斤, a short axe, with 廾, two hands, showing a pair of hands holding a weapon.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Military & Defense 2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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