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陈年 (chén nián) — of many years' standing; aged (usually of wine, liquor, vinegar, or other aged products)

Definition

陈年 means 'aged for many years' and is used almost only for wine, liquor, vinegar, tea, and similar products that improve with time — not for people or general objects.

adjective
of many years' standingaged (usually of wine, liquor, vinegar, or other aged products)

Examples

  • 陈年。
    Zhè píng chén nián bái jiǔ shì yé ye shōu cáng de.
    This bottle of aged liquor was collected by my grandfather.
  • 陈年。
    chén nián De cù wèi dào gèng chún hòu.
    Aged vinegar has a richer flavor.
  • 陈年。
    Zhè xiē chén nián chá yè zài shì chǎng shàng hěn shòu huān yíng.
    These aged tea leaves are very popular in the market.

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.

陈chénaged
年niányears

Aged 陈 over many 年 years describes something long stored.

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 陳; 陈 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fùmound
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng陳chén
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 陳 pairs 阜 (mound) with 東 as a sound component.

Open 陈 →

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
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →
Appears in
Time (Abstract)

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