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内务 (nèi wù) — domestic/internal affairs (within a family, organization, or country); military routine tasks (e.g., barracks upkeep, daily regulations); (historical) affairs within the imperial palace or household

Definition

A formal/compound noun for 'internal affairs' — used for an organization's, country's, or military's routine internal matters. Not a common everyday word for family matters (that's 家务).

noun
domestic/internal affairs (within a family, organization, or country)military routine tasks (e.g., barracks upkeep, daily regulations)(historical) affairs within the imperial palace or household

Examples

  • 内务，。
    Tā fù zé gōng sī de nèi wù guǎn lǐ, bāo kuò bàn gōng huán jìng hé cái wù.
    He is in charge of the company's internal affairs, including the office environment and finances.
  • 内务，。
    Jūn duì de nèi wù jiǎn chá fēi cháng yán gé, měi gè shì bīng dōu yào zhěng lǐ hǎo zì jǐ de wù pǐn.
    Military internal inspections are very strict; every soldier must organize their own belongings.
  • 内务，。
    Qīng cháo de nèi wù yóu nèi wù fǔ zhǎng guǎn, fù zé huáng jiā de yí qiè shēng huó shì wù.
    The Qing dynasty's palace affairs were managed by the Imperial Household Department, responsible for all aspects of imperial life.

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.

内nèiinternal/inside
务wùaffairs

内 marks internal or domestic, and 务 marks affairs, together meaning internal affairs.

Characters in this word

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

  • 入入rùto enter
  • 冂冂jiōnghouse

The shape shows 入 entering into 冂, a house, so it pictures bringing something indoors, giving the sense inside.

Open 内 →

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 務; 务 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
敄
敄wù務wù
Same sound today

In the traditional form 務, 力 shows the sense of strength or effort, while 敄 gives the sound. The simplified 务 is a later shorthand.

Open 务 →
Appears in
Government & PoliticsMilitary & Defense

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