相同 (xiāng tóng) — same, identical | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Adjective meaning 'same / identical' — emphasizes that two things are exactly alike, stronger than 相似 (similar but not equal). Often contrasts with 不同 in set phrases.

adjective

sameidentical

Examples

相同。
Zhè liǎng běn shū de nèi róng xiāng tóng.
The content of these two books is the same.
相同。
Wǒ men de xiǎng fǎ xiāng tóng.
Our ideas are the same.
相同。
Tā men chuān de yī fu yán sè xiāng tóng.
The color of the clothes they wear is the same.

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.

相xiāngmutual

「相」 (mutual) and 「同」 (same) combine to mean being the same as one another.

Characters in this word

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

木目相

木木mùtree
目目mùeye

In 相, 目 is an eye and 木 is a tree, showing an eye looking at a tree; this originally meant “to observe.”

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

同 originally drew a pipe. It is the old form of 筒.

Appears in

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