extend meaning; derive new sense
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesverb
(of a word or character) to develop a new meaning from the original meaning; to extend semantically
Commonly used in linguistics to describe semantic extension. The original meaning is called '本义' (original meaning), while the newly developed meaning is called '引申义' (extended meaning). Often used in the structure '由 A 引申为 B' (extend from A to B).
“
Jiàn鉴
”
zì字
běn本
yì义
wéi为
“
jìng镜
zi子
”
，
yǐn引
shēn申
wéi为
“
kě可
yǐ以
zuò作
wéi为
jǐng警
jiè戒
huò或
yǐn引
wéi为
jiào教
xùn训
de的
shì事
”
。
The original meaning of the character '鉴' is 'mirror', which extended to mean 'a thing that can serve as a warning or lesson'.
Zhè这
gè个
cí词
yóu由
jù具
tǐ体
de的
dòng动
zuò作
yǐn引
shēn申
wéi为
chōu抽
xiàng象
de的
gài概
niàn念
。
This word extends from a concrete action to an abstract concept.
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“
Dǎ打
”
zì字
yǒu有
hěn很
duō多
yǐn引
shēn申
yì义
，
bǐ比
rú如
“
dǎ打
máo毛
yī衣
”
de的
“
dǎ打
”
bìng并
bù不
shì是
zhēn真
de的
jī击
dǎ打
。
The character '打' has many extended meanings; for example, the '打' in '打毛衣' (to knit a sweater) does not actually mean to hit.