曾经 (céng jīng) — once (indicating a past experience); at some po…

Definition

曾经 marks a past experience no longer true — 'once, used to'. Unlike 已经 ('already'), it signals the situation has changed. Synonym 曾 is identical in meaning, used more in writing.

adverb

once (indicating a past experience)at some point in the pastused to

Examples

曾经。
Tā céng jīng shì yì míng yōu xiù de yī shēng.
He used to be an excellent doctor.
曾经。
Wǒ céng jīng xiǎng guò chū guó liú xué.
I once thought about studying abroad.
曾经。
Tā céng jīng zài zhè lǐ zhù guò hěn duō nián.
She once lived here for many years.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

曾céngonce; already

经jīngexperience; pass through

"曾" means once or already, "经" means experience; together they point to something that happened in the past.

Characters in this word

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

曾 was first drawn as a cooker for steaming food. The 'once' meaning came from borrowing the sound, so the picture does not directly show that meaning.

Open 曾 →

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 經; 经 is its simplified writing.

糹巠經

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糹Written in full as糸mìsilk; thread

Sound part声符shēngfú

巠

巠jīng經jīng

Same sound today

The traditional form 經 combines 糹 (silk; thread) with 巠, which gives the sound.

Open 经 →