体育

Etymology & Components

The Chinese word 体育 (tǐyù) for "sports" is a compound of two characters: 体 (tǐ), meaning "body," and 育 (yù), meaning "to raise" or "to nurture." Together, these characters convey the idea of "physical education" or "the development of the body."The character 体 (tǐ) is composed of two parts: the radical 肉 (ròu), meaning "meat" or "flesh," and the phonetic component 提 (tí). The radical 肉 indicates that the character is related to the human body, while the phonetic component 提 suggests the pronunciation.The character 育 (yù) is also composed of two parts: the radical 子 (zǐ), meaning "child," and the phonetic component 哭 (kū). The radical 子 indicates that the character is related to children or offspring, while the phonetic component 哭 suggests the pronunciation.When combined, the characters 体 (tǐ) and 育 (yù) form the word 体育 (tǐyù), which refers to the activities and practices that are designed to develop and improve physical fitness and well-being. In modern Chinese, 体育 is commonly used to refer to sports, physical education, and other forms of physical activity.