车队 (chē duì) — motorcade, convoy, fleet (of vehicles)

Definition

noun

motorcadeconvoyfleet (of vehicles)

Measure word · 支

Examples

车队。
Zǒng tǒng de chē duì yóu shí liàng chē zǔ chéng.
The president's motorcade consists of ten cars.
车队。
Zhè ge yùn shū gōng sī yǒu wǔ shí liàng kǎ chē de chē duì.
This transport company has a fleet of fifty trucks.
车队，。
Qián miàn yǒu yì zhī chē duì, wǒ men děng yí xià zài zǒu.
There's a convoy ahead, let's wait a bit before going.

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.

车chēvehicle

队duìteam

'车' vehicle + '队' team gives a team of vehicles.

Characters in this word

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 →

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 隊; 队 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阜阜fù

Sound part声符shēngfú

㒸

㒸㒸隊duì

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 隊 has 阜 as the meaning part and 㒸 as the sound part.

Open 队 →

Appears in