经度 (jīng dù) — longitude | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Longitude — the geographic coordinate measuring east–west position. Pairs naturally with 纬度 (latitude, north–south); together they give any point's location on a map.

noun

longitude

Easily confused

精度jīng dùsound-alikeprecision, accuracy (of a device or measurement)

Examples

经度120。
Zhè tiáo xiàn de jīng dù shì dōng jīng 120 dù.
The longitude of this line is 120 degrees east.
经度。
Dì tú shàng biāo chū le měi gè chéng shì de jīng dù hé wěi dù.
The map marks the longitude and latitude of each city.
GPS经度。
GPS kě yǐ jīng què cè liáng dì diǎn de jīng dù.
GPS can accurately measure the longitude of a location.

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.

经jīngmeridian

度dùdegree

经 meridian and 度 degree combine to name the angular distance measured along meridians.

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 經; 经 is its simplified writing.

糹巠經

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糹Written in full as糸mìsilk; thread

Sound part声符shēngfú

巠

巠jīng經jīng

Same sound today

The traditional form 經 combines 糹 (silk; thread) with 巠, which gives the sound.

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

又又yòuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

石

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

度 has 又 (hand) and a changed form of 石; 石 gives a related sound, and the hand is tied to using the hand as a reference for measurement.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Abstract Concepts

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