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装甲车 (zhuāng jiǎ chē) — armored car

Definition

noun
armored car
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 装甲车。
    Nà liàng zhuāng jiǎ chē tíng zài lù biān.
    That armored car is parked by the roadside.
  • 装甲车。
    Jǐng chá yòng le liǎng liàng zhuāng jiǎ chē.
    The police used two armored cars.
  • 装甲车。
    Tā men kàn le yí gè guān yú zhuāng jiǎ chē de diàn yǐng.
    They watched a movie about armored cars.

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.

装甲armored
装zhuāngarm/equip甲jiǎarmor
动宾Verb + object
车chēvehicle

装甲 combines 装 (arm/equip) and 甲 (armor), then with 车 (vehicle).

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 裝; 装 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衣衣yīclothes
Sound part声符shēngfú
壯
壯zhuàng裝zhuāng
Same sound today

The traditional form 裝 pairs 衣 (clothes) with 壯 as a sound part; this story is about 裝, not the simplified 装.

Open 装 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

甲 is drawn as a hard protective shell, carapace, or scales of an animal, or as armor made of connected plates.

Open 甲 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →
Appears in
Military & DefenseVehicles

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