上位 (shàng wèi) — top seat; leading position; person in a senior role

Definition

上位 (shàngwèi) refers to the highest-ranking role or dominant figure in an organization or hierarchy — more institutional than 领导 ('leader'), which covers any person in charge.

noun
top seatleading positionperson in a senior role
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，上位。
    Jīng guò duō nián nǔ lì, tā zhōng yú zuò shàng le gōng sī de shàng wèi.
    After years of effort, he finally took the top seat at the company.
  • ，上位，。
    Zài zhè ge xiàng mù zhōng, tā dān rèn shàng wèi, fù zé zhěng tǐ jué cè.
    In this project, he holds the leading position and is responsible for overall decision-making.
  • 上位。
    Zhǐ yǒu néng lì chū zhòng de rén cái néng chéng wéi háng yè de shàng wèi.
    Only people with outstanding ability can become the top figures in the industry.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

上shàngtop
位wèiposition

上 'top' and 位 'seat/position' combine to mean a leading position.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

上 is drawn as a short horizontal line placed above a longer arc, marking a position above that arc.

Open 上 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
立
立lì位wèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

位 combines 人 (man), related to people, with 立, which gives the sound. It was often simply written as 立.

Open 位 →

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