兄弟

xiōngdì · HSK 4

brothers

👬 兄 = elder brother + 弟 = younger brother

兄弟 stacks the two sibling characters: 兄 (xiōng, elder brother) and 弟 (dì, younger brother). Together they cover all brothers as a pair, much like English saying brothers to mean the whole sibling set.

More Chinese words · How Chinese works