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生命 (shēng mìng) — life (the state of being alive); living being, organism

Definition

生命 means life as a state of being alive (生命体), or a living being. Compare 人生 (a person's lifetime/existence) and 生物 (organism, a specific creature).

noun
life (the state of being alive)living beingorganism
Measure word · 个, 条
Easily confused

Examples

  • 生命。
    Wǒ men yīng gāi bǎo hù měi yí gè shēng mìng.
    We should protect every life.
  • 生命。
    Hǎi lǐ de shēng mìng hěn duō.
    There is a lot of life in the sea.
  • 生命。
    Yī shēng jiù le sān tiáo shēng mìng.
    The doctor saved three lives.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

生shēnglife
命mìnglife

生 and 命 both point to living existence, together meaning life.

Characters in this word

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng命mìng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

命 combines 口, a mouth, with 令, which gives the sound.

Open 命 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 41000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsBiology2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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