original meaning; literal sense
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesnoun
original meaning; literal sense
formalA linguistics term referring to the original, often concrete, meaning of a word before it developed extended or metaphorical meanings.
“
bīng兵
”
de的
běn本
yì义
shì是
wǔ武
qì器
，
hòu后
lái来
yǐn引
shēn申
wéi为
zhàn战
shì士
。
The original meaning of '兵' is 'weapon,' which later extended to mean 'soldier.'
Xué学
xí习
gǔ古
Hàn汉
yǔ语
，
shǒu首
xiān先
yào要
gǎo搞
qīng清
chu楚
cí词
de的
běn本
yì义
。
When studying Classical Chinese, the first thing is to understand the original meaning of words.
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Zì字
diǎn典
zhōng中
tōng通
cháng常
xiān先
liè列
chū出
cí词
de的
běn本
yì义
，
rán然
hòu后
cái才
shì是
yǐn引
shēn申
yì义
。
Dictionaries usually list the original meaning of a word first, followed by its extended meanings.
Zhè这
ge个
cí词
xiàn现
zài在
de的
yòng用
fǎ法
hé和
tā它
de的
běn本
yì义
yǐ已
jīng经
xiāng相
chà差
hěn很
yuǎn远
le了
。
The current usage of this word is already very far from its original meaning.