词汇

• Pinyin: cí huì
• Hanzi breakdown: 词 = 讠(speech radical) + 司 (to manage), meaning a word or phrase; 汇 = 氵(water) + 匚 (box), meaning to gather together

Meaning

Vocabulary; words and phrases. The collection of words in a language or known by a person.

Used to refer to vocabulary as a whole — either of a language, a subject area, or an individual's word knowledge. Very common in educational and linguistic contexts: 词汇量 (vocabulary size), 词汇表 (word list), 基础词汇 (basic vocabulary). Also used informally: 你的词汇量很大 (you have a large vocabulary).

Examples

1. 学习一门语言最重要的是积累词汇。 The most important thing in learning a language is accumulating vocabulary.
2. 这本书后面附有一个词汇表。 There is a vocabulary list at the back of this book.
3. 多阅读可以帮助你扩大词汇量。 Reading more can help you expand your vocabulary.

Usage Guide

Context: education, language learning, academic

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 你的英语词汇量大概有多少？(About how large is your English vocabulary?)
• 这篇课文的词汇都比较简单。(The vocabulary in this text is all relatively simple.)

Don't Say

• 用词汇指一个单独的词，比如'这个词汇很难' (Don't use 词汇 to refer to a single word — use 词 or 单词 instead; 词汇 refers to vocabulary as a collection)

Origin & History

词 (word, phrase) + 汇 (to gather, to collect). The compound conveys the idea of a collection or gathering of words, forming a vocabulary.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal