大和 (Dà hé) — (proper noun) Yamato — ancient Japanese province and historical period; (proper noun) Daiwa — Japanese place name or business name

Definition

大和 (Dà hé) names the ancient Japanese Yamato province/era and the Yamato ethnic group, and is also read as 'Daiwa' in modern place and business names (e.g. Daiwa Bank).

noun
(proper noun) Yamato — ancient Japanese province and historical period(proper noun) Daiwa — Japanese place name or business name
Easily confused

Examples

  • 大和。
    Dà hé Shí dài shì rì běn lì shǐ shàng yí gè zhòng yào de shí qī.
    The Yamato period is an important era in Japanese history.
  • 大和，。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī jiào Dà hé yín háng, zǒng bù zài dōng jīng.
    This company is called Daiwa Bank, with its headquarters in Tokyo.
  • 大和。
    Dà hé Mín zú shì rì běn de zhǔ tǐ mín zú.
    The Yamato people are the main ethnic group of Japan.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
禾
禾hé和hé
Same sound today

和 pairs 禾, which gives the sound, with 口 (mouth), the meaning part; the reference connects this shape to harmony.

Open 和 →

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