裁减 (cái jiǎn) — to reduce, to cut down (staff, budget, armaments, etc.)

Definition

A formal verb for cutting back staff, budgets, or armaments — implies planned reduction by an authority. Stronger than 减少, which covers any kind of decrease (人数、成本、时间).

verb
to reduceto cut down (staff, budget, armaments, etc.)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 裁减。
    Gōng sī jì huà cái jiǎn bǎi fēn zhī shí de yuán gōng.
    The company plans to cut ten percent of its employees.
  • 裁减。
    Zhèng fǔ jué dìng cái jiǎn míng nián de jiào yù jīng fèi.
    The government decided to reduce next year's education budget.
  • 裁减。
    Liǎng guó tóng yì cái jiǎn hé wǔ qì shù liàng.
    The two countries agreed to cut down the number of nuclear weapons.

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.

裁cáicut
减jiǎnreduce

裁 and 减 both mean cut and reduce, giving trim down.

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
衣衣yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢦏
𢦏𢦏裁cái
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

裁 combines 衣 (clothing) with 𢦏, whose form is tied to a blade and an arrow, to show cutting fabric.

Open 裁 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 減; 减 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 減 has 氵, water, and 咸, a seal: sealing off a stream of water lessens its flow. The simplified 减 is a later abbreviation.

Open 减 →

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