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公开 (gōng kāi) — (adjective) open, public, overt; (verb) to make public, to disclose, to release

Definition

As an adjective it means 'open/public' (公开的秘密 = open secret); as a verb it means 'to make public / disclose' (often official info like data, decisions). Compare 公布 (announce formally) and 公示 (post publicly for comment).

adjective
openpublicovert
verb
to make publicto discloseto release

Examples

  • 公开。
    Zhè shì yí gè gōng kāi de mì mì.
    This is an open secret.
  • 公开。
    Zhèng fǔ gōng kāi le zuì xīn de jīng jì shù jù.
    The government released the latest economic data.
  • 公开。
    Tā gōng kāi chéng rèn le zì jǐ de cuò wù.
    He openly admitted his own mistake.

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.

公gōngpublic
开kāiopen

公 means public and 开 means open; something is open to all, or made so.

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.

Open 公 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

  • 門門méndoor
  • 一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
  • 廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →
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