信教者 (xìn jiào zhě) — religious believer, religious adherent

Definition

A person who believes in and follows a religion. Formed from 信 ('believe in') + 教 ('religion/teaching') + 者 ('person who…').

noun

religious believerreligious adherent

Measure word · 个

信教者。
Hěn duō xìn jiào zhě dōu àn shí qù jiào táng zuò lǐ bài.
Many religious believers go to church for worship on time.
信教者。
Zhè ge guó jiā duì xìn jiào zhě de quán lì yǒu fǎ lǜ bǎo zhàng.
This country has legal protections for the rights of religious believers.
，信教者。
Diào chá xiǎn shì, nián qīng xìn jiào zhě de shù liàng zài jiǎn shǎo.
Surveys show that the number of young religious believers is decreasing.

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

信教believe in religion

动宾Verb + object

信教 means believing in a religion, and 者 is the person doing so.

Characters in this word

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

言言yánwords

Sound part声符shēngfú

人

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

信 pairs 人 as the sound part with 言 (words) as the meaning part.

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

子子zǐchild

攵Written in full as攴pūteaching cane; stick that represents authority

Sound part声符shēngfú

爻

爻yáo教jiào

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

教 uses 爻 for its sound and puts 子 (child) with 攵 (攴), a teaching cane, to show teaching a child.

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

The form 者 originally drew a sugarcane with full stems, small points around it, and an open smiling mouth at the bottom.