党羽 (dǎng yǔ) — henchmen, lackey (derogatory)

Definition

A derogatory term for the followers or henchmen of a leader, used for a group collectively rather than one person. Like 同党, it stresses loyal subordinates of a bad leader.

noun
henchmenlackey (derogatory)

Examples

  • 党羽。
    Nà ge hēi bāng tóu mù hé tā de dǎng yǔ dōu bèi jǐng fāng dài bǔ le.
    The gang leader and his henchmen were all arrested by the police.
  • 党羽。
    Fǔ bài guān yuán de dǎng yǔ lì yòng zhí quán móu qǔ sī lì.
    The henchmen of corrupt officials abuse their power for personal gain.
  • ，党羽。
    Zài zhàn luàn shí qī, jūn fá de dǎng yǔ qī yā bǎi xìng.
    During the war-torn period, the warlord's henchmen oppressed the common people.

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.

党dǎngparty/clique
羽yǔfeather/wing

党 ('clique') and 羽 ('feathers/wings') together mean henchmen.

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
儿儿érhuman
Sound part声符shēngfú
尚
尚shàng党dǎng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

党 pairs 尚, giving its sound, with 儿, a human.

Open 党 →

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

羽 comes from a picture of wings or feathers.

Open 羽 →

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