帝国 (dì guó) — empire | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Empire: a large political realm ruled by an emperor (皇帝). Note 帝国 refers to the realm/state itself, not the ruler.

noun

empire

Measure word · 个

。
Luó mǎ dì guó céng jīng fēi cháng qiáng dà.
The Roman Empire was once very powerful.
帝国。
Tā mèng xiǎng jiàn lì yí gè shāng yè dì guó.
He dreams of building a business empire.
帝国。
Zhè ge dì guó de lǐng tǔ fēi cháng guǎng kuò.
This empire's territory is very vast.

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.

帝dìemperor

帝 (emperor) and 国 (state) combine to mean a state ruled by an emperor.

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

丄丄shàngup; above

Sound part声符shēngfú

朿

朿cì帝dì

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

帝 originally drew a flower calyx, the part joining blossom to stem. The 丄 and 朿 breakdown is mistaken.

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

囗或國

Meaning part形符xíngfú

囗囗wéiclosure

Sound part声符shēngfú

或

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

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