宫廷 (gōng tíng) — imperial court; palace (of a king or emperor) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

宫廷 means 'imperial court' — both the royal palace building and the political power center around the emperor. More royal and political than 宫殿 (palace building) or 皇宫 (imperial palace).

noun

imperial courtpalace (of a king or emperor)

Measure word · 座

Examples

宫廷。
gōng tíng Lǐ de lǐ yí fēi cháng yán gé.
The etiquette in the imperial court is very strict.
宫廷。
Zhè bù xiǎo shuō miáo xiě le gǔ dài gōng tíng de shē huá shēng huó.
This novel depicts the luxurious life of the ancient court.
宫廷。
Tā céng zài gōng tíng zhōng dān rèn yào zhí.
He once held an important position in the imperial court.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

Here 宫 means palace and 廷 means court, so together they denote the emperor's palace and court.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 宮; 宫 is its simplified writing.

宀呂宮

宀宀mián
呂呂lǚ

The traditional form 宮 is built from 宀 and 呂.

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

廴廴yǐn

Sound part声符shēngfú

𡈼

𡈼𡈼廷tíng

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

廷 is built from 廴, a meaning part, and 𡈼, a sound part.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Buildings & Structures History

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