编组 (biān zǔ) — to organize into groups, to form groups; (railway) to marshal (train cars)

Definition

Means 'organize into groups' (people, train cars, etc.). As a railway term, it specifically means marshalling — sorting train cars into a new order at a marshalling yard (编组站).

verb
to organize into groupsto form groups(railway) to marshal (train cars)

Examples

  • 编组。
    Lǎo shī bǎ xué shēng biān zǔ chéng sān gè xiǎo zǔ.
    The teacher organized the students into three small groups.
  • 编组。
    Zhè ge chē zhàn měi tiān yào biān zǔ hěn duō liè chē.
    This station marshals many trains every day.
  • ，。
    Tā men biān le sān gè zǔ, měi zǔ shí gè rén.
    They formed three groups, each with ten people.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

编biānarrange
组zǔgroup

The action 编 arrange is aimed at 组 groups, forming organized sets.

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 編; 编 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìthread
Sound part声符shēngfú
扁
扁biǎn編biān
Same sound today

The traditional form 編 pairs 糸 (thread), for knitting a book together, with 扁 as the sound part; the simplified 编 is only a shorthand.

Open 编 →

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 組; 组 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìsilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
且
且qiě組zǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 組 pairs 糸 (silk) with 且 as a sound part; the simplified 组 is a shorthand.

Open 组 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.