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全民 (quán mín) — the whole people; the entire population

Definition

A formal, written term meaning 'everyone in the country' (the whole nation/people as a collective), typically used in official or policy contexts like 全民健身 ('national fitness'). Closer to 'national' as an adjective-noun pair than to 'everyone' (每个人).

noun
the whole peoplethe entire population

Examples

  • 全民。
    Zhè xiàng fǎ lǜ xū yào quán mín tóu piào tōng guò.
    This law requires a vote by the entire population.
  • 全民。
    quán mín Jiàn shēn yǐ jīng shì guó jiā zhàn lüè.
    National fitness has already become a national strategy.
  • 全民。
    Zhè ge huó dòng gǔ lì quán mín cān jiā.
    This event encourages everyone to participate.

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.

全quánwhole
民mínpeople

全 (“whole”) and 民 (“people”) mean all the people.

Characters in this word

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

The shape puts 入 together with 玉 to show a whole piece of jade, so it means complete or whole.

Open 全 →

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

The early form of 民 shows an eye pierced by a sharp cross-shaped implement, possibly linked to an injured or unclear eye.

Open 民 →
Appears in
Society & Public Life

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