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成败 (chéng bài) — success or failure; the outcome (win or lose)

Definition

A fixed pair meaning 'success or failure' as a single outcome — used to talk about a result as a whole, not the two sides separately.

noun
success or failurethe outcome (win or lose)

Examples

  • 成败。
    Shì qing de chéng bài qǔ jué yú wǒ men xiàn zài de nǔ lì.
    The success or failure of the matter depends on our current efforts.
  • 成败，。
    Bù guǎn chéng bài, wǒ men dōu yīng gāi jiān chí dào dǐ.
    Regardless of success or failure, we should persist to the end.
  • 成败。
    Zhè cì bǐ sài de chéng bài duì tā lái shuō fēi cháng zhòng yào.
    The outcome of this competition is very important to him.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

成chéngsuccess
败bàifailure

成 and 败 are opposite outcomes, together giving success and failure.

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
戊戊wù
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng成chéng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

成 puts 戊, a weapon, beside 丁, which gives the sound. The weapon part relates to protection, as in the old sense of city walls.

Open 成 →

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 敗; 败 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
攵Written in full as攴pūstrike
Sound part声符shēngfú
貝
貝bèi敗bài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 敗 has 貝 as the sound component and 攴 (written 攵) meaning strike. The simplified 败 is a later abbreviation, so its parts are not the original components.

Open 败 →
Appears in
Success & Failure

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