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纲要 (gāng yào) — outline; essential points

Definition

纲要 is a formal, written outline of a plan, document, or subject — broader in scope than 提纲 (a working outline) and more concrete than 纲领 (guiding principles). Often used for published outlines like a course 纲要 or policy 纲要.

noun
outlineessential points

Examples

  • 纲要。
    Zhè fèn wén jiàn shì yí fèn zhèng cè gāng yào.
    This document is a policy outline.
  • 纲要。
    Lǎo shī ràng wǒ men xiān xiě yí gè kè chéng gāng yào.
    The teacher asked us to first write a course outline.
  • 纲要。
    Jīng jì gāng yào bāo kuò le xǔ duō zhòng yào nèi róng.
    The economic outline includes many important points.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

纲gāngoutline
要yàoessential

纲 and 要 both point to essential features, forming an outline of key points.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 綱; 纲 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìrope
Sound part声符shēngfú
岡
岡gāng綱gāng
Same sound today

The traditional form 綱 has 糸 (rope) beside 岡 as a sound part; the simplified 纲 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 纲 →

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

要 began as a drawing of a person with both hands pointing to the waist.

Open 要 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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