高校 (gāo xiào) — colleges and universities; institutions of high… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Short for 高等院校, the everyday term for colleges and universities. More common and broader than 大学, which usually refers to a single institution.

noun

colleges and universitiesinstitutions of higher education

Measure word · 所

Examples

高校。
Zhè suǒ gāo xiào de kē yán shuǐ píng hěn gāo.
This university's research level is very high.
高校。
Tā bì yè hòu zài yì suǒ gāo xiào gōng zuò.
After graduation, he works at a college.
高校。
Quán guó duō suǒ gāo xiào cān jiā le zhè cì bǐ sài.
Many colleges and universities across the country participated in this competition.

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 (high) + 校 (school) = institutions of higher education.

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.

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

木交校

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

交

交jiāo校jiào

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

校 is built from 木 (tree) on the left and 交 on the right, which supplies the sound.

Appears in

School & Education

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