大多数 (dà duō shù) — the (great) majority, most

Definition

noun

the (great) majoritymost

大多数。
dà duō shù Xué shēng dōu tōng guò le kǎo shì.
Most students passed the exam.
，大多数。
Zài zhè jiā gōng sī, dà duō shù yuán gōng xǐ huan xīn de gōng zuò fāng shì.
At this company, most employees like the new way of working.
大多数，。
dà duō shù Qíng kuàng xià, tí qián zhǔn bèi huì gèng hǎo.
In most cases, preparing in advance will be better.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

多数majority

偏正Modifier + head

大 with 多数 means a large number, the majority.

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.

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

多 originally showed two pieces of meat placed together; the repeated meat shape gives the sense of many.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 數; 数 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

攴攴pū

Sound part声符shēngfú

婁

婁lóu數shù(r)

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

The traditional form 數 pairs 攴, the meaning part, with 婁, the sound part; the simplified 数 is a shorthand.

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