公共 (gōng gòng) — public; common; communal | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

公共 modifies facilities, services, or spaces shared by everyone (公共汽车, 公共环境). 共同 focuses on people sharing something jointly, not the thing itself.

adjective

publiccommoncommunal

Examples

公共。
Qǐng bǎo chí gōng gòng huán jìng gān jìng.
Please keep the public environment clean.
公共。
gōng gòng Jiāo tōng yuè lái yuè fāng biàn le.
Public transportation is getting more and more convenient.
公共。
Wǒ men yào bǎo hù gōng gòng zī yuán.
We need to protect public resources.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

“公” means public and “共” means shared, so the word describes something communal.

Characters in this word

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

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

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

廾廾gǒngtwo hands
口口kǒuan object

共 shows 廾, two hands, holding up an object. That object was written 口 and later became the 廿-like top.

Appears in

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