街道 (jiē dào) — street; subdistrict (grassroots administrative division in urban China)

Definition

街道 covers both the physical sense ('street, road') and an urban administrative unit ('subdistrict'). For just 'street', 街 is more everyday and 马路 emphasizes the roadway itself.

noun
streetsubdistrict (grassroots administrative division in urban China)
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 街道。
    Zhè tiáo jiē dào hěn kuān.
    This street is very wide.
  • 街道。
    Zhè ge jiē dào yǒu shí gè xiǎo qū.
    This subdistrict has ten residential areas.
  • 街道。
    Wǒ men chuān guò jiē dào qù gōng yuán.
    We cross the street to go to the park.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

街jiēstreet
道dàoroad

街 and 道 both refer to roads, giving the sense of a street or roadway.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
行行xíng
Sound part声符shēngfú
圭
圭guī街jiē
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

街 combines 行 and 圭: 行 is the meaning part, and 圭 is the sound part. Originally, 圭 drew a pair of ritual axes, not earth.

Open 街 →

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
行行xíngstreet
止止zhǐfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
𩠐
首shǒu道dào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Open 道 →
Appears in
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