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直播 (zhí bō) — to broadcast live; to livestream (on TV, radio, or the internet)

Definition

直播 is to broadcast or watch something live as it happens — on TV, radio, or online. 转播 means to relay someone else's broadcast; 实况 is the live event itself (noun).

verb
to broadcast liveto livestream (on TV, radio, or the internet)

Examples

  • 直播，。
    Hěn duō rén zài wǎng shàng zhí bō chàng gē, xī yǐn le hěn duō guān zhòng.
    Many people livestream singing online and attract a lot of viewers.
  • 直播。
    Míng tiān xià wǔ de zú qiú bǐ sài huì zài diàn shì shàng zhí bō.
    Tomorrow afternoon's soccer match will be broadcast live on TV.
  • 直播。
    Tā měi tiān wǎn shàng bā diǎn kāi shǐ zhí bō dǎ yóu xì.
    He starts livestreaming gaming every night at 8 o'clock.

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.

直zhídirect
播bōbroadcast

The parts 直 and 播 combine as direct and broadcast, giving the sense of broadcasting without delay.

Characters in this word

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

The earliest form of 直 pairs 目, an eye, with an unclear stroke 丨.

Open 直 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
番
番fān播bō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

播 is built from 扌, a hand radical, plus 番 as a sound part. The hand part marks it as something done by hand.

Open 播 →
Appears in
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