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科学 (kē xué) — science; scientific knowledge; scientific; rational

Definition

The everyday word for 'science' as a field of study, and 'scientific' as a method. As an adjective it means evidence-based and methodical — unlike 合理 ('reasonable' in a common-sense sense).

sciencescientific knowledgescientificrational
Measure word · 门, 个, 种

Examples

  • 科学。
    kē xué Duì wǒ men de shēng huó hěn zhòng yào.
    Science is very important to our lives.
  • 科学。
    Zhè ge fāng fǎ bù kē xué.
    This method is not scientific.
  • 科学。
    Wǒ men xū yào kē xué dì zuò jué dìng.
    We need to make decisions scientifically.

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.

科kēcategory
学xuéstudy

科 (category) and 学 (study) combine to name a systematic field of knowledge.

Characters in this word

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
斗斗dòumeasuring tool
Sound part声符shēngfú
禾
禾hé科kē
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

科 pairs 禾, which gives the hé sound, with 斗, a measuring tool.

Open 科 →

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 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

Open 学 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 4Science (General)2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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