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中层 (zhōng céng) — middle level/layer (in a hierarchy, building, or structure); middle management

Definition

中层 refers to the middle level of a hierarchy — the 'middle floors' of a building or the 'middle management' tier of an organization, sitting between the top and the bottom.

noun
middle level/layer (in a hierarchy, building, or structure)middle management

Examples

  • 中层。
    Tā zài gōng sī de zhōng céng dān rèn bù mén jīng lǐ.
    She works as a department manager at the company's middle management level.
  • 中层。
    Zhè ge lóu de zhōng céng zhù zhe hěn duō nián qīng fū fù.
    Many young couples live on the middle floors of this building.
  • 中层。
    Wǒ men xué xiào de zhōng céng guǎn lǐ tuán duì fēi cháng gāo xiào.
    Our school's middle management team is very efficient.

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.

中zhōngmiddle
层cénglayer

中 (middle) modifies 层 (layer), yielding a level or layer in the middle.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The original picture showed a flagpole with a drum in the middle, set up in the center of a field.

Open 中 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 層; 层 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
曾
曾céng層céng
Same sound today

The traditional form 層 uses 尸 for the meaning and 曾 for the sound; the simplified 层 is a later abbreviation.

Open 层 →
Appears in
Management

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