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劳力 (láo lì) — manpower; labor force; (formal) able-bodied person; manual worker

Definition

Formal written word for 'labor / labor force' as an economic input, or for an able-bodied manual worker. It names labor itself; 劳动 is the more common verb/general term for 'to work' or 'labor' as activity.

noun
manpowerlabor force(formal) able-bodied personmanual worker
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 劳力，。
    Gōng sī de láo lì bú gòu, xū yào zài zhāo pìn.
    The company's labor force is insufficient and needs to recruit more.
  • 劳力，。
    Zhè wèi láo lì fēi cháng néng gàn, yí gè rén wán chéng le sān rén de gōng zuò liàng.
    This worker is very capable; he alone completed the workload of three people.
  • ，劳力。
    Zài zhè ge xiàng mù zhōng, láo lì chéng běn zhàn le yí bàn de yù suàn.
    In this project, labor costs accounted for half the budget.

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.

劳láolabor
力lìstrength

劳 (labor) and 力 (strength) together denote labor force or a person with such strength.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 勞; 劳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lì
Sound part声符shēngfú
𬡤
𬡤𬡤勞láo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 勞 uses 力 for the meaning and 𬡤 for the sound; the simplified 劳 is a later shortened shape.

Open 劳 →

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

力 is drawn as either an arm bending out from the side of the body or a wooden plough.

Open 力 →
Appears in
Professions & JobsWorkplace & Office

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