征服 (zhēng fú) — to conquer; to vanquish; to subdue

Definition

Used for conquering territory, nature, or inner challenges — wider and grander in scope than 战胜 ('defeat an opponent') or 克服 ('overcome a difficulty'). 制服 is physical force; 征服 can also be figurative.

verb

to conquerto vanquishto subdue

Examples

征服。
Jūn duì chéng gōng dì zhēng fú le dí rén de zhèn dì.
The army successfully conquered the enemy's position.
征服。
Zhè wèi dēng shān yùn dòng yuán zhōng yú zhēng fú le zhū mù lǎng mǎ fēng.
This mountaineer finally conquered Mount Everest.
征服，。
Yào xiǎng zhēng fú zì jǐ de kǒng jù, bì xū fǎn fù miàn duì tā.
To conquer your own fear, you must face it repeatedly.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

征zhēngsubdue

服fúsubmit

征服 combines 征, to subdue, with 服, to submit, so it means bringing someone under control.

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 徵; 征 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 征 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (特征, 象征) it is 徵; in others it is 征.

The story is about the traditional form 徵. It originally meant punishment, from a picture of a knife with tooth-shaped protrusions on its back; later forms kept that sense.

Open 征 →

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

凡凡fántray

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠬝

𠬝𠬝服fú

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

In 服, the part 𠬝 was the original picture for 'to subdue'; the added left part 凡, a tray, later changed shape.

Open 服 →

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Military & Defense 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words