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债主 (zhài zhǔ) — creditor

Definition

noun
creditor
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 债主，。
    Tā qiàn le zhài zhǔ hěn duō qián, yì zhí hái bú shàng.
    He owes the creditor a lot of money and has been unable to pay it back.
  • 债主。
    zhài zhǔ Tiān tiān dǎ diàn huà cuī tā huán zhài.
    The creditor calls him every day to demand repayment.
  • 债主，。
    Wèi le duǒ kāi zhài zhǔ, tā bān dào le lìng yí gè chéng shì.
    To avoid the creditor, he moved to another city.

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.

债zhàidebt
主zhǔowner

债 means debt and 主 means owner or master, so the person holding a debt.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 債; 债 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
責
責zé債zhài
Same sound today

The traditional form 債 combines 亻 (person) with 責 as a sound part; the simplified 债 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 债 →

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

The old forms that became 主 showed a lamp or torch with a flame at the top; other forms showed wood on fire or a spirit tablet.

Open 主 →
Appears in
Finance & Banking

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