霸权 (bà quán) — hegemony; supremacy

Definition

noun
hegemonysupremacy

Examples

  • 霸权。
    Zhè ge guó jiā fǎn duì rèn hé xíng shì de bà quán.
    This country opposes any form of hegemony.
  • 霸权。
    bà quán Zài guó jì shàng yuè lái yuè bú shòu huān yíng.
    Hegemony is becoming increasingly unpopular internationally.
  • 霸权。
    Lì shǐ shàng de bà quán zuì zhōng dōu huì shuāi luò.
    Historically, hegemonies eventually decline.

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.

霸bàoverlord
权quánpower

'霸' suggests overlordship and '权' power, so it means overlord power.

Characters in this word

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

The original form paired 革 with 月 to show changes in moonlight.

Open 霸 →

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 權; 权 is its simplified writing.

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

The traditional form 權 shows 木, a tree, with 雚 giving the sound; it named a kind of tree and was used for a standard weight. The simplified 权 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 权 →

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