工兵 (gōng bīng) — military engineer | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

military engineer

Measure word · 个

工兵。
gōng bīng Fù zé xiū jiàn qiáo liáng hé dào lù.
Military engineers are responsible for building bridges and roads.
工兵。
Tā shì yì míng yōu xiù de gōng bīng.
He is an excellent military engineer.
工兵。
Zhè zhī gōng bīng duì wu hěn kuài jiù xiū hǎo le lù.
This military engineer unit quickly repaired the road.

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.

工gōngengineering work

工 suggests engineering work and 兵 a soldier, naming a soldier who handles engineering tasks.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

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

兵 combines 斤, a short axe, with 廾, two hands, showing a pair of hands holding a weapon.