起飞 meaning in English
(of an aircraft or rocket) to take off; to lift off; (fig.) (of an enterprise etc) to start to develop rapidly
Meaning of 起飞
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- (of an aircraft or rocket) to take off; to lift off
- (fig.) (of an enterprise etc) to start to develop rapidly
How to use 起飞
起飞 is mostly used for planes, rockets, and drones leaving the ground, and it is an intransitive verb, so nothing follows it as an object. It can also describe an economy or business that starts to grow fast. Example: 飞机十点起飞。(Fēijī shí diǎn qǐfēi.) The plane takes off at ten.
起 (qǐ) means to rise or get up, as in 起床 (qǐchuáng), and 飞 (fēi) means to fly, as in 飞机 (fēijī). Put them together and a plane rises up and starts flying: it takes off.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes say 飞机起飞北京 to mean "take off from Beijing." The place needs 从 in front of it: 飞机从北京起飞 (fēijī cóng Běijīng qǐfēi).
起飞 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
起 qǐ · to rise · 10 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
飞 fēi · to fly · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Related words
Words that share a character with 起飞.
| 一起 | yīqǐ | (in) the same place; together; in company (with) |
| 起来 | qǐlái | to stand up; to get up; also pr. [qi3lai2] |
| 对不起 | duìbuqǐ | I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint |
| 飞机 | fēijī | airplane |
| 起床 | qǐchuáng | to get out of bed; to get up |
| 想起 | xiǎngqǐ | to recall; to think of |
| 看起来 | kàn qǐlái | seemingly; apparently; looks as if; appears to be; gives the impression that; seems on the |
| 飞行 | fēixíng | to fly; flight |
| 了不起 | liǎobuqǐ | amazing; terrific |
| 引起 | yǐnqǐ | to give rise to; to lead to; to cause; to arouse |
| 看不起 | kànbuqǐ | to look down upon; to despise |
| 提起 | tíqǐ | to mention; to bring up; (lit. and fig.) to lift; to raise |
Questions about 起飞
What does 起飞 mean?
起飞 (qǐfēi) means "(of an aircraft or rocket) to take off; to lift off; (fig.) (of an enterprise etc) to start to develop rapidly" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 起飞?
起飞 is made of 2 characters: 起 (10 strokes), 飞 (3 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.
Is 起飞 an HSK word?
Yes. 起飞 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 起飞 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 起飞 is written 起飛.
What is the opposite of 起飞?
The opposite is 降落 (jiàngluò), to land. You will often hear both words in airport announcements and on flight information.
Can I use 起飞 to say a person is leaving on a trip?
Not really. For a person, say 出发 (chūfā) to set off or 坐飞机走 (zuò fēijī zǒu). 起飞 describes the aircraft itself, as in 我的航班几点起飞? (Wǒ de hángbān jǐ diǎn qǐfēi?) What time does my flight take off?