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橄榄球 (gǎn lǎn qiú) — rugby; American football

Definition

In Chinese 橄榄球 covers both rugby and American football — context (rules, equipment, or scoring) tells you which one is meant. Example 1 shows the American sense (四分卫 quarterback); examples 2–3 show the rugby sense.

noun
rugbyAmerican football
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 橄榄球。
    Tā dà xué shí shì gǎn lǎn qiú duì de sì fēn wèi.
    He was the quarterback of the American football team in college.
  • 橄榄球。
    gǎn lǎn qiú Bǐ sài de shēn tǐ duì kàng fēi cháng jī liè.
    The physical contact in rugby matches is very intense.
  • 橄榄球。
    Wǒ men zhōu mò yuē hǎo le yì qǐ kàn gǎn lǎn qiú.
    We made plans to watch rugby together this weekend.

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.

橄榄olive
橄gǎn榄lǎn
联绵Bound pair
球qiúball

橄榄 and 球 combine to name a ball shaped like an olive.

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
敢
敢gǎn橄
Same sound today

橄 uses 木 to point to a tree and 敢 to give the sound.

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 欖; 榄 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
覽
覽lǎn欖lǎn
Same sound today

The traditional form 欖 has 木 (tree) beside 覽, which gives the sound; the simplified 榄 is a later shorthand.

Open 榄 →

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
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
求
求qiú球qiú
Same sound today

球 is built from 玉, meaning jade, and 求, which gives the sound.

Open 球 →
Appears in
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