大队长 (dà duì zhǎng) — leader of a large team or unit; captain; brigade commander

Definition

大队长 (dàduìzhǎng) refers to the leader of a 大队, a large organized team or unit — typically military or paramilitary (e.g. the Young Pioneers at school). Compared with 队长 (captain of any team), it signals a bigger or more formal unit.

noun
leader of a large team or unitcaptainbrigade commander
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 大队长。
    Wǒ men dà duì de dà duì zhǎng hěn yǒu jīng yàn.
    The captain of our brigade is very experienced.
  • 大队长。
    Tā zài xué xiào lǐ dān rèn shào xiān duì dà duì zhǎng.
    He serves as the Young Pioneers captain at school.
  • 大队长。
    dà duì zhǎng Mìng lìng wǒ men lì jí jí hé.
    The brigade commander ordered us to assemble immediately.

Origin

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.

大队large unit
大dàbig队duìteam
偏正Modifier + head
长chángleader

大队 names a large unit, and 长 names its leader, giving a captain or commander.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 隊; 队 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
㒸
㒸㒸隊duì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 隊 has 阜 as the meaning part and 㒸 as the sound part.

Open 队 →

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.

Open 长 →

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