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套装 (tào zhuāng) — suit, matching outfit; set (of coordinated items)

Definition

A matching outfit or coordinated set of items (e.g. a top and skirt sold together, a software bundle). Distinct from 衣服 (general 'clothes') — a 套装 is specifically items designed to be worn or used together as one unit.

noun
suitmatching outfitset (of coordinated items)
Measure word · 套

Examples

  • 套装套装。
    Tā jīn tiān chuān le yí tào zhuāng xīn tào zhuāng.
    She wore a new suit today.
  • 套装套装。
    Zhè tào zhuāng tào zhuāng bāo kuò shàng yī hé qún zi.
    This set includes a top and a skirt.
  • 套装。
    Wǒ mǎi le yí gè bàn gōng ruǎn jiàn tào zhuāng.
    I bought an office software suite.

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.

套tàoset
装zhuāngoutfit

套 'set' and 装 'outfit' combine to mean a matching outfit.

Characters in this word

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

  • 大大dàlarge
  • 長長chánglong

套 is made from 大 (large) and 長 (long), originally for something long, with some reference to hair; it later came to mean a cover or a linked group.

Open 套 →

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 裝; 装 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衣衣yīclothes
Sound part声符shēngfú
壯
壯zhuàng裝zhuāng
Same sound today

The traditional form 裝 pairs 衣 (clothes) with 壯 as a sound part; this story is about 裝, not the simplified 装.

Open 装 →
Appears in
Clothing

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