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白厅 (Bái tīng) — Whitehall (street and area in London, metonym for the British government)

Definition

白厅 (Bái Tīng) is London's Whitehall — both the street of government buildings and, as a metonym, the British government itself (similar to how 'Washington' can mean the US government).

noun
Whitehall (street and area in London, metonym for the British government)

Examples

  • 白厅。
    Bái tīng Shì yīng guó zhèng fǔ de zhòng yào xiàng zhēng.
    Whitehall is an important symbol of the British government.
  • 白厅。
    Tā céng zài Bái tīng gōng zuò duō nián.
    He worked in Whitehall for many years.
  • 白厅。
    Bái tīng De jué cè yǐng xiǎng zhe zhěng gè guó jiā.
    Decisions from Whitehall affect the entire country.

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.

白báiwhite
厅tīnghall

The name uses 白 (white) and 厅 (hall) for Whitehall, a London street and government metonym.

Characters in this word

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

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

Open 白 →

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 廳; 厅 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
广广guǎnghouse
Sound part声符shēngfú
聽
聽tīng廳tīng
Same sound today

The traditional form 廳 pairs 广 (house) with 聽, which gives the sound; the simplified 厅 is a shorthand and its parts are not the original ones.

Open 厅 →
Appears in
City & Urban

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