Kilo Lingo

(xì tǒng) - system in Mandarin

tǒng

Traditional: 系统

Line drawing of 系统
Coloured illustration of 系统
#928 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

system

Word origin

A two-character compound meaning system. 系 (xì) 'to connect, thread, system' depicts threads held in a hand, and 统 (tǒng) 'to unite, govern, all' has the 纟 'silk' radical with 充 (chōng) as phonetic.

Origin
compound
Root
系 (xì, 'connect/thread') + 统 (tǒng, 'to unite'; 纟 silk radical + 充 phonetic)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 系

Stroke order for 统

Examples

This system is very complex.

We need to update the system.

zhàng

The system has malfunctioned.

There is a problem with this system.

系统 (xì tǒng) means system.

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This word is part of lesson 19.