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高层 (gāo céng) — (noun) high-rise building; top-level leadership or management; (adjective) high-level, high-rise

Definition

高层 highlights rank or position — top leadership, upper floors, the upper tiers of an organization. Compare 高级 (quality, skill level) and 高等 (academic rank like 高等教育).

noun
high-rise buildingtop-level leadership or management
adjective
high-levelhigh-rise

Examples

  • 高层。
    Zhè zuò gāo céng yǒu wǔ shí céng lóu.
    This high-rise has fifty floors.
  • 高层。
    gāo céng Huì yì yǐ jīng kāi shǐ le.
    The high-level meeting has already started.
  • 高层。
    Gōng sī gāo céng zhèng zài tǎo lùn zhè ge wèn tí.
    Company top management is discussing this issue.

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.

高gāohigh
层cénglevel

「高」 gives high and 「层」 gives level, together meaning a high level or high-rise.

Characters in this word

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

高 was drawn as a tall building.

Open 高 →

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 層; 层 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
曾
曾céng層céng
Same sound today

The traditional form 層 uses 尸 for the meaning and 曾 for the sound; the simplified 层 is a later abbreviation.

Open 层 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Buildings & StructuresManagement

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