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家畜 (jiā chù) — domestic animals, livestock

Definition

家畜 (jiāchù) means livestock — farm animals raised by humans for work or products, like cattle, sheep, and pigs. It focuses on the animals as farm property/resources, not on affection for them.

noun
domestic animalslivestock

Examples

  • 家畜。
    Zhè ge nóng chǎng yǎng le hěn duō jiā chù.
    This farm raises a lot of livestock.
  • 家畜。
    jiā chù De sì yǎng xū yào kē xué guǎn lǐ.
    Raising domestic animals requires scientific management.
  • 家畜。
    Guò qù jiā chù shì nóng mín de zhòng yào cái chǎn.
    In the past, livestock were an important asset for farmers.

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.

家jiāhousehold
畜chùanimal

家 points to the home or household, and 畜 names animals, so the word means animals kept at home.

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miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

畜 pairs 玄, a rope, with 田, a bag of feed or an enclosure, giving a picture of feed tied up or animals tied in a pen.

Open 畜 →
Appears in
Animals & Mammals

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