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美国 (Měi guó) — United States of America; USA; US

Definition

noun
United States of AmericaUSAUS

Examples

  • 美国。
    Wǒ míng nián dǎ suàn qù Měi guó liú xué.
    I plan to study abroad in the United States next year.
  • 美国。
    Měi guó Shì yí gè hěn dà de guó jiā.
    The United States is a very large country.
  • 美国，。
    Tā cóng Měi guó huí lái yǐ hòu, yì zhí hěn máng.
    He has been very busy ever since he came back from the US.

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.

美měiAmerica
国guócountry

美 points to America and 国 means country, together naming the United States.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

美 shows 大, a person, wearing 羊, a headdress of feathers or ram's horn.

Open 美 →

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →
Appears in
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