尽早 (jǐn zǎo) — as early as possible | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

尽早 focuses on doing something as early as possible, often tied to a deadline or goal (e.g. before a flight, before an illness worsens). Unlike 尽快 ('as quickly/soon as possible'), it stresses timing, not speed.

adverb

as early as possible

Examples

，尽早。
Wèi le gǎn shàng fēi jī, wǒ men jǐn zǎo chū fā.
To catch the plane, we set off as early as possible.
尽早。
Nǐ jǐn zǎo bǎ bào gào jiāo gěi wǒ ba.
Please hand in the report to me as early as possible.
尽早。
Yī shēng jiàn yì tā jǐn zǎo jiē shòu zhì liáo.
The doctor advised him to receive treatment as early as possible.

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.

尽jìnto the utmost

早zǎoearly

“尽” (to the utmost) and “早” (early) combine to mean as early as possible.

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 盡; 尽 is its simplified writing.

聿聿yùhand holding a brush
灬灬huǒbristles
皿皿mǐndish

The traditional form 盡 shows 聿 (hand holding a brush) and 灬 (bristles) over 皿 (dish), cleaning a dish until it is empty. The simplified 尽 is a shorthand, not those historical parts.

Open 尽 →

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

日日rìsun

Sound part声符shēngfú

棗

棗zǎo早zǎo

Same sound today

The form 早 pairs 日 (sun) with 棗, which gives the sound; an earlier shape of 早 was a picture of an acorn.

Open 早 →

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Time (Abstract)