科目 (kē mù) — academic subject; field of study | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

科目 usually refers to a specific course or exam subject (一门科目, 考试科目). 学科 is broader, meaning an academic discipline or field of study.

noun

academic subjectfield of study

Measure word · 门

Examples

科目。
Zhè ge xué qī wǒ xuǎn le wǔ mén kē mù.
I chose five subjects this semester.
科目。
Tā kǎo dà xué de shí hou kē mù chéng jì dōu hěn yōu xiù.
His grades in all subjects were excellent when he took the college entrance exam.
科目。
Shù xué shì yì mén xū yào dà liàng liàn xí de kē mù.
Mathematics is a subject that requires a lot of practice.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

科kēcategory

科 (category) and 目 (item) together name a subject or field of study.

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.

禾斗科

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.

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

目 began as a drawing of a human eye, turned sideways.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 6 School Subjects

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