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定时 (dìng shí) — (verb) to fix a time, to schedule; (noun) fixed time, scheduled time; timed (used attributively)

Definition

定时 means 'fix a time / scheduled' — focus on the timing itself. Different from 定期 (regular interval, periodic) and 时间表 (a written schedule/timetable).

verb
to fix a timeto schedule
noun
fixed timescheduled timetimed (used attributively)

Examples

  • 定时。
    Wǒ men měi tiān dìng shí kāi huì.
    We have meetings at a fixed time every day.
  • 定时。
    Qǐng shè zhì hǎo dìng shí.
    Please set the fixed time.
  • 。
    Zhè zhǒng dìng shí zhà dàn hěn wēi xiǎn.
    This kind of timed bomb is very dangerous.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

定dìngfix
时shítime

定 means fix, 时 means time; together they express setting a time or a set time.

Characters in this word

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
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
正
正zhèng定dìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

定 is built from 宀 and 正, with 正 supplying the sound.

Open 定 →

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 時; 时 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
日日rìsun; day
Sound part声符shēngfú
之
之zhī時shí
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 時 pairs 日 (sun/day) with 之 as the part that gives the sound; the simplified 时 is not the form described.

Open 时 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Time (Abstract)

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