压缩

• Pinyin: yā suō
• Hanzi breakdown: 压 = 厂 + 土 (cliff + earth — pressing force); 缩 = 纟+ 宿 (thread + lodge — contracting, drawing back into itself)

Meaning

To compress; to condense; to reduce. Refers to the physical compression of matter, the reduction of file size, or the trimming of a timeline, budget, or document.

Used across technical (data compression), physical (gas/air compression), and administrative (budget/schedule reduction) contexts. The object can be a file, gas, timeline, workforce, or report. 压缩包 (compressed archive) and 压缩文件 (compressed file) are common technical terms.

Examples

1. 工程师对视频文件进行压缩处理，在不明显损失画质的前提下大幅缩减了存储占用与网络传输所需的带宽。 The engineer compressed the video file, dramatically reducing storage and the bandwidth needed for transmission without noticeably sacrificing image quality.
2. 由于预算被大幅削减，项目组不得不压缩原定的研发周期，并精简掉部分非核心功能模块。 After the budget was slashed, the team had to shorten the planned development timeline and cut some non-core features.
3. 气缸中的活塞将混合气体迅速压缩至高温高压状态，随即触发燃烧以驱动内燃机正常运转。 The piston in the cylinder rapidly compresses the fuel-air mixture to a high-temperature, high-pressure state, then ignites it to drive the internal combustion engine.

Usage Guide

Context: technology, engineering, administration, logistics

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 发送前请先压缩文件夹，否则附件体积过大，邮件系统可能无法正常发送。(Please compress the folder before sending, otherwise the attachment will be too large for the email system to handle properly.)
• 公司决定压缩行政开支，将节省下来的资金集中投入核心业务的研发与创新。(The company decided to compress administrative expenses and redirect the savings into research and innovation for its core business.)

Don't Say

• 我压缩了我的情绪 — for suppressing emotions use 压抑 or 克制; 压缩 is for physical or quantitative reduction, not internal emotional restraint

Origin & History

压 (press/compress) + 缩 (shrink/contract) — pressing something to make it smaller

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal