领航 (lǐng háng) — (verb) to pilot, to navigate; (noun) pilot, nav… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

领航 is the formal, specialized term for piloting or navigating a ship or aircraft — used in maritime, aviation, and military contexts, far more elevated than everyday 开车 or 开飞机.

verb

to pilotto navigate

noun

pilotnavigator

Examples

，。
Tā yǐ qián lǐng guò háng, jīng yàn hěn fēng fù.
He has piloted before and has a lot of experience.
领航。
Tā shì yì míng yōu xiù de lǐng háng.
He is an excellent pilot.
领航。
lǐng háng Zhè sōu chuán de shì zhāng chuán zhǎng.
The one piloting this ship is Captain Zhang.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

航hángnavigation

Lead and navigation combine to mean piloting or navigating a course.

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 領; 领 is its simplified writing.

令頁領

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yè

Sound part声符shēngfú

令

令lìng領lǐng

Same sound today

The traditional form 領 has 令 as a sound part and 頁 as a meaning part; the simplified 领 is a later shorthand.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

舟亢航

Meaning part形符xíngfú

舟舟zhōuboat

Sound part声符shēngfú

亢

亢kàng航háng

Same sound today

航 shows a boat with 舟, and 亢 gives the character its sound.

Appears in

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