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武装 (wǔ zhuāng) — (noun) arms, weapons; armed forces; (verb) to arm; to equip with weapons (also used figuratively)

Definition

武装 emphasizes the organizational/collective side — 'armed forces' as an institution (武装力量) and the act of equipping troops, often used figuratively (武装头脑). For weapons as objects, use 武器; for the military organization itself, 军队/部队.

noun
armsweaponsarmed forces
verb
to armto equip with weapons (also used figuratively)

Examples

  • 。
    Guó jiā xū yào jiā qiáng wǔ zhuāng lì liàng.
    The country needs to strengthen its armed forces.
  • 武装。
    Tā men yòng zuì xīn wǔ qì wǔ zhuāng le jūn duì.
    They armed the army with the latest weapons.
  • 武装。
    Wǒ men yào yòng kē xué zhī shi wǔ zhuāng tóu nǎo.
    We must arm our minds with scientific knowledge.

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.

武wǔmilitary
装zhuāngequipment

武 means military and 装 means equipment, so the word refers to military equipment or arming someone with weapons.

Characters in this word

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

武 puts 戈 (dagger-axe) above 止 (foot/to walk), showing an army going on an expedition.

Open 武 →

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 裝; 装 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衣衣yīclothes
Sound part声符shēngfú
壯
壯zhuàng裝zhuāng
Same sound today

The traditional form 裝 pairs 衣 (clothes) with 壯 as a sound part; this story is about 裝, not the simplified 装.

Open 装 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Military & Defense5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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