<p>带(lead) + 领(lead) = <strong>带领</strong>: <strong>to lead</strong></p>

<p>引(guide) + 导(guide) = <strong>引导</strong>: " <strong>to guide</strong>" </p>

<p>领(lead)+ 导(guide) = <strong>领导</strong>: "<strong>to lead and guide</strong>"</p>

<p>领导 contains the meanings of both  带领 and 引导, I don't see anything wrong with the definition using 带领 and 引导. Yes, both 带领 and 引导 repeated one character from 领导, but they are unique compound words on their own.</p>

<p>It is ok. as long as the dictionary doesn't use the exact compound word in the definition like 领导(v): 领导</p>

<p>It is unavoidable for many different compound words to have a common character among them, you have to look at the whole compound word instead of looking at the two characters individually</p>

<p>The examples below all contain '正' (correct, positive, straight, upright....) but each compound word containing '正' would have very different meaning to each others</p>

<ul>
<li><p>正直 = honest</p></li>
<li><p>正確 = correct</p></li>
<li><p>正常 = normal</p></li>
</ul>

<p>One more thing:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><em>领导(动)：带领并引导大家开展工作</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>The definition should just be: "带领并引导" (to lead and guide)</p>

<p>领导大家开展工作 would be a good example sentence </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-05T22:31:03.287Z
Tang Ho, I think you mean guide, not guild.
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-05T22:32:51.657Z
opp, used the noun instead
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-05T22:21:22.573Z
2019-04-06T02:56:46.130Z
2019-04-06T02:56:46.130Z
Tang Ho
<p>Modern Chinese has a lot of dual-syllable words that stem from ancient single-syllable words. 领导 is an example. But Chinese language doesn’t have the same concept (or logic) of the dictionary as a western language such as English.</p>
<p>Chinese dictionary has different names. 字典 is the dictionary of characters, 辞典 is for the usage of the characters or combinations of the characters in a sentence. Ancient books of 韵书 are to give the pronunciation of the characters. Traditionally there was no 词典 for Chinese that provides the meanings or definitions of the words. The Chinese language emphasizes 字, not 词. It assumes that all words formed by multiple characters can be explained by the meaning of each single character, which is not always the case.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-12T11:04:00.803Z
2024-08-12T11:48:44.050Z
2024-08-12T11:48:44.050Z
PdotWang
<p>I see Chinese-Chinese definitions which re-use the characters of the word.  For example, 领导 defined as 动：带领并引导大家开展工作. If I already knew 带领 and 引导 then I probably could guess 领导, so it's not very helpful.  In English, the "rule" is that you never use the word in the definition. Are there any rules or features of Chinese-Chinese dictionaries that can help me in situations like these? Should I be looking up the individual characters?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-05T22:29:13.777Z
Look up 'in' in an English dictionary. See if it is defined without using a word containing 'in'. Look up 'big'. See if it is defined without using a word which means 'big'. The cause of your ire is not a Chinese monopoly!
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-11T10:50:50.177Z
This circular referencing is actually something that has plagued Chinese dictionaries *for millenia*. Welcome to the world of Chinese!!
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-12T10:38:36.217Z
It can be quite helpful for a student. Seeing how individual characters in a word can be used in other words to explain the word's meaning can be quite instructive. If ever there's a doubt about meaning then as a native English speaker I find the Chinese-English and the Chinese - Chinese dictionaries to be complementary.
goPlayerJuggler
<dictionary>
Chinese-Chinese dictionary definitions re-using characters from the word
# Chinese-Chinese dictionary definitions re-using characters from the word

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-04-05)

I see Chinese-Chinese definitions which re-use the characters of the word. For example, 领导 defined as 动：带领并引导大家开展工作. If I already knew 带领 and 引导 then I probably could guess 领导, so it's not very helpful. In English, the "rule" is that you never use the word in the definition. Are there any rules or features of Chinese-Chinese dictionaries that can help me in situations like these? Should I be looking up the individual characters?

**Tags:** dictionary

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Look up 'in' in an English dictionary. See if it is defined without using a word containing 'in'. Look up 'big'. See if it is defined without using a word which means 'big'. The cause of your ire is not a Chinese monopoly!  
> **username_2**: This circular referencing is actually something that has plagued Chinese dictionaries *for millenia*. Welcome to the world of Chinese!!  
> **username_3**: It can be quite helpful for a student. Seeing how individual characters in a word can be used in other words to explain the word's meaning can be quite instructive. If ever there's a doubt about meaning then as a native English speaker I find the Chinese-English and the Chinese - Chinese dictionaries to be complementary.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-04-05. Score: 1

带(lead) + 领(lead) = **带领**: **to lead**

引(guide) + 导(guide) = **引导**: " **to guide**"

领(lead)+ 导(guide) = **领导**: "**to lead and guide**"

领导 contains the meanings of both 带领 and 引导, I don't see anything wrong with the definition using 带领 and 引导. Yes, both 带领 and 引导 repeated one character from 领导, but they are unique compound words on their own.

It is ok. as long as the dictionary doesn't use the exact compound word in the definition like 领导(v): 领导

It is unavoidable for many different compound words to have a common character among them, you have to look at the whole compound word instead of looking at the two characters individually

The examples below all contain '正' (correct, positive, straight, upright....) but each compound word containing '正' would have very different meaning to each others

* 正直 = honest
* 正確 = correct
* 正常 = normal

One more thing:

> *领导(动)：带领并引导大家开展工作*

The definition should just be: "带领并引导" (to lead and guide)

领导大家开展工作 would be a good example sentence

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: username_4 Ho, I think you mean guide, not guild.  
> **username_4**: opp, used the noun instead  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2024-08-12. Score: 0

Modern Chinese has a lot of dual-syllable words that stem from ancient single-syllable words. 领导 is an example. But Chinese language doesn’t have the same concept (or logic) of the dictionary as a western language such as English.

Chinese dictionary has different names. 字典 is the dictionary of characters, 辞典 is for the usage of the characters or combinations of the characters in a sentence. Ancient books of 韵书 are to give the pronunciation of the characters. Traditionally there was no 词典 for Chinese that provides the meanings or definitions of the words. The Chinese language emphasizes 字, not 词. It assumes that all words formed by multiple characters can be explained by the meaning of each single character, which is not always the case.


---

