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鸟瞰 (niǎo kàn) — (verb) to overlook, to get a bird's-eye view of; (noun) a bird's-eye view, an overview

Definition

Literally 'bird-gaze': the formal, written word for looking down on something from above, and for the resulting overview itself. Use it for reports, summaries, or aerial perspectives — not casual speech.

verb
to overlookto get a bird's-eye view of
noun
a bird's-eye viewan overview

Examples

  • 鸟瞰。
    Cóng shān dǐng kě yǐ kàn dào niǎo kàn zhěng gè chéng shì.
    From the mountaintop you can get a bird's-eye view of the whole city.
  • 鸟瞰。
    Zhè piān bào gào tí gōng le quán qiú jīng jì de yí gè niǎo kàn.
    This report provides a bird's-eye view of the global economy.
  • 鸟瞰，。
    Wǒ men xū yào cóng gāo chù niǎo kàn quán jú, cái néng zuò chū zhèng què jué dìng.
    We need to survey the overall situation from a high vantage point in order to make the right decision.

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.

鸟niǎobird
瞰kànview from above

A 鸟 looks down, so the view is from above.

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 鳥; 鸟 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 鳥 came from a drawing of a bird with a dangling tail; the simplified 鸟 is a later abbreviation.

Open 鸟 →

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
目目mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
敢
敢gǎn瞰kàn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape pairs 目, an eye, with 敢, which gives the sound. The eye part relates to looking, while 敢 is not the meaning.

Appears in
Senses

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