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面积 (miàn jī) — area (of a surface or region)

Definition

noun
area (of a surface or region)

Examples

  • 面积？
    Zhè ge guó jiā de miàn jī yǒu duō dà?
    How large is this country's area?
  • 面积。
    Wǒ men jì suàn yí xià fáng jiān de miàn jī.
    Let's calculate the area of the room.
  • 面积？
    Zhè kuài tǔ dì de miàn jī shì duō shǎo?
    What is the area of this piece of land?

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.

面miànsurface
积jīaccumulation

“面” means surface, “积” means accumulated amount; together they denote the size of a surface.

Characters in this word

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

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

Open 面 →

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 積; 积 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
禾禾hé
Sound part声符shēngfú
責
責zé積jī
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 積 pairs 禾 (grain) with 責, which gives the sound; the simplified 积 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 积 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Math

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