各级 (gè jí) — all levels; various levels (of government, organization, etc.)

Definition

A fixed phrase meaning 'every level' or 'all levels' of an organization (government, school, company). Unlike each level taken individually, 各级 emphasizes the total scope across the whole hierarchy.

noun
all levelsvarious levels (of government, organization, etc.)

Examples

  • 各级。
    gè jí Zhèng fǔ dōu yào zhòng shì huán jìng bǎo hù.
    Governments at all levels must attach importance to environmental protection.
  • 各级。
    Zhè ge zhèng cè shì yòng yú gè jí xué xiào.
    This policy applies to schools at all levels.
  • 各级。
    Gōng sī gè jí yuán gōng dōu cān jiā le péi xùn.
    Employees at all levels of the company participated in the training.

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.

各gèeach
级jílevel

各 means each, and 级 means level, together referring to all levels.

Characters in this word

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

各 shows a sole of a foot (夂) coming into an entrance (口), for the sense of coming or entering.

Open 各 →

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 級; 级 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糹Written in full as糸mìthread
Sound part声符shēngfú
及
及jí級jí
Same sound today

The traditional form 級 has 糹 (thread) and 及 as a sound part; its original sense was a sequence related to silk. The simplified 级 is a later shorthand.

Open 级 →

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