锦标赛 (jǐn biāo sài) — championship, tournament

Definition

noun
championshiptournament
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 锦标赛
    Tā yíng dé le zhè cì jǐn biāo sài de guàn jūn.
    He won the championship of this tournament.
  • 锦标赛
    Jīn nián de jǐn biāo sài xī yǐn le lái zì shì jiè gè dì de xuǎn shǒu.
    This year's championship attracted players from all over the world.
  • 锦标赛
    Tā cān jiā le quán guó jǐn biāo sài bìng huò dé le dì èr míng.
    She participated in the national championship and got second place.

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.

锦标brocade prize
jǐnbrocadebiāomark
偏正Modifier + head
sàicontest

锦 as brocade and 标 as a mark name a prize, and 赛 is a contest for it.

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 錦; 锦 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
Sound part声符shēngfú
jīnjǐn
Same sound today

The traditional form 錦 pairs 金, which gives its sound, with 帛, cloth.

Open 锦 →

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 標; 标 is its simplified writing.

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

The traditional form 標 pairs 木 with 票, and 票 gives the sound; the simplified 标 is the modern form of that traditional character.

Open 标 →

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 賽; 赛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
bèishell
Sound part声符shēngfú
sāisài
Same sound today

The traditional form 賽 uses 貝 (shell) for meaning and 塞 for sound. The simplified 赛 is a later shorthand.

Open 赛 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.