革命 (gé mìng) — (verb) to revolt; to revolutionize; (adjective) revolutionary

Definition

革命 is 'revolution' — a sweeping, often political overthrow or radical transformation, stronger than 革新 (reform/innovate) and 变革 (gradual change). It can be used as a verb ("to revolutionize") or adjective ("revolutionary").

verb
to revoltto revolutionize
adjective
revolutionary
Measure word · 次

Examples

  • 。
    Tā men gé le jiù zhì dù de mìng.
    They revolted against the old system.
  • 革命。
    gé mìng Jīng shén zhí dé xué xí.
    The revolutionary spirit is worth learning.
  • 革命。
    Tā men jué xīn gé mìng dào dǐ.
    They are determined to carry the revolution through to the end.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

革géchange
命mìnglife/mandate

革 means change and 命 means life or mandate; together they express changing a life or order, hence revolution.

Characters in this word

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

革 is drawn as a stretched animal hide, with the upper part as the head and the lower part as the tail and legs.

Open 革 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng命mìng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

命 combines 口, a mouth, with 令, which gives the sound.

Open 命 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5History

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