桃园 (Táo yuán) — Taoyuan (city in Taiwan); (literal) peach orchard

Definition

Proper name for Taoyuan city in northern Taiwan (home to Taiwan's main international airport). The same characters also literally mean a 'peach orchard,' used rarely in modern Chinese.

noun
Taoyuan (city in Taiwan)(literal) peach orchard
Easily confused

Examples

  • 桃园。
    Wǒ xià ge yuè yào qù Táo yuán chū chāi.
    I'm going to Taoyuan on a business trip next month.
  • 桃园。
    Táo yuán Jī chǎng shì tái wān zuì dà de guó jì jī chǎng zhī yī.
    Taoyuan Airport is one of the largest international airports in Taiwan.
  • 桃园。
    Zhè piàn Táo yuán shì cūn lǐ rén yì qǐ zhǒng de.
    This peach orchard was planted together by the villagers.

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.

桃táopeach
园yuánorchard

桃 peach and 园 garden or orchard combine to mean a peach orchard, also used as a place name.

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
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
兆
兆zhào桃táo(r)
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

桃 combines 木, meaning tree, with 兆, which gives the sound.

Open 桃 →

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
囗囗wéi
Sound part声符shēngfú
元
元yuán园yuán
Same sound today

In 园, 元 sits inside 囗, and 元 gives the sound.

Open 园 →

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