飞行器 (fēi xíng qì) — aircraft; flying vehicle (general term); UFO (unidentified flying object)

Definition

A general, often technical term for any machine that flies — aircraft, drones, spacecraft. 飞机 is the common everyday word for airplane specifically.

noun
aircraftflying vehicle (general term)UFO (unidentified flying object)
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 飞行器
    Xiàn dài fēi xíng qì shè jì yuè lái yuè huán bǎo.
    Modern aircraft designs are becoming more environmentally friendly.
  • 飞行器
    Zuó wǎn wǒ kàn dào yí gè bù míng fēi xíng qì.
    Last night I saw an unidentified flying object.
  • 飞行器
    Wú rén fēi xíng qì zài nóng yè zhōng yìng yòng guǎng fàn.
    Unmanned aerial vehicles are widely used in agriculture.

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.

飞行flying travel
fēiflyxíngtravel
联合Coordinate
device

飞行 names flying or traveling and 器 names a device, so it means an aircraft.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 飛; 飞 is its simplified writing.

For 飞, the traditional form 飛 pictures a bird flying upwards.

Open 飞 →

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

  • chì
  • chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →

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

The origin of 器 is uncertain; one traditional account reads the whole shape as a scene of guarding over four vessels.

Open 器 →
Appears in

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.