支队 (zhī duì) — detachment (military unit)

Definition

A 支队 is a small, specialized military or paramilitary detachment — a sub-unit below a 大队 or 团, often used for police SWAT, fire, or special-ops units. Think 'squad-level task force', not a full regiment.

noun
detachment (military unit)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 支队。
    Zhè ge zhī duì fù zé biān jìng xún luó rèn wu.
    This detachment is responsible for border patrol missions.
  • 支队。
    Xiāo fáng zhī duì xùn sù gǎn dào xiàn chǎng pū miè le dà huǒ.
    The fire brigade detachment quickly arrived at the scene and put out the big fire.
  • 支队。
    Tā céng zài tè zhǒng zuò zhàn zhī duì fú yì sān nián.
    He served in a special operations detachment for three years.

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.

支zhībranch
队duìunit

支 gives the sense of a detached branch, and 队 gives the sense of a unit, so together they name a detachment.

Characters in this word

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

支 pairs 又 (hand) with 十, a shortened form of 竹 (bamboo), to picture a bamboo branch.

Open 支 →

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 隊; 队 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
㒸
㒸㒸隊duì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 隊 has 阜 as the meaning part and 㒸 as the sound part.

Open 队 →

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