保管人 (bǎo guǎn rén) — trustee (in legal contexts); custodian (person who keeps or safeguards something)

Definition

保管人 literally means 'safekeeping-person' — a person or institution entrusted to look after assets, documents, or property. In legal/financial contexts it renders as 'trustee' or 'custodian'.

noun
trustee (in legal contexts)custodian (person who keeps or safeguards something)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 保管人。
    Yí zhǔ zhōng zhǐ dìng le yí chǎn bǎo guǎn rén.
    The will appointed a trustee for the estate.
  • 保管人,。
    Yín háng zuò wéi bǎo guǎn rén, fù zé bǎo guǎn kè hù de zī chǎn.
    The bank, acting as a custodian, is responsible for safeguarding clients' assets.
  • 保管人。
    Gōng sī xū yào xuǎn yí wèi bǎo guǎn rén lái guǎn lǐ zhòng yào wén jiàn.
    The company needs to select a custodian to manage important documents.

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.

保管keep in charge
保bǎoguard管guǎnmanage
联合Side by side
人rénperson

保 and 管 mean guard and manage, and 人 is a person who does this.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

保 originally showed a person 人 carrying a child 子 on their back, which led to the sense of protecting.

Open 保 →

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
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
官
官guān管guǎn
Same sound today

管 has 竹 (bamboo) on top to show it relates to bamboo, and 官 gives its sound.

Open 管 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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