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同胞 (tóng bāo) — sibling (born of the same parents); compatriot; fellow countryman

Definition

Covers two senses: biological siblings (like 亲兄弟) and, more often at this level, 'compatriots' — fellow citizens of the same country, including overseas Chinese. Broader and more national than 乡亲 (which is hometown-level).

noun
sibling (born of the same parents)compatriotfellow countryman
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 同胞，。
    Tā men liǎ shì qīn tóng bāo, cóng xiǎo yì qǐ zhǎng dà.
    The two of them are biological siblings and grew up together.
  • 同胞。
    Hǎi wài tóng bāo fēi cháng guān xīn zǔ guó de fā zhǎn.
    Overseas compatriots care deeply about the development of the motherland.
  • 同胞。
    Liǎng àn tóng bāo dōu pàn wàng zhe hé píng tǒng yī.
    Compatriots on both sides of the strait look forward to peaceful reunification.

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.

同tóngsame
胞bāowomb/placenta

同 'same' and 胞 'womb/placenta' give 'from the same womb', hence siblings or people of one country.

Characters in this word

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

同 originally drew a pipe. It is the old form of 筒.

Open 同 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
月Written in full as肉ròuflesh
Sound part声符shēngfú
包
包bāo胞bāo
Same sound today

胞 pairs 月 (flesh) with 包, a shape representing a pregnant figure, to point to the membrane enclosing a fetus.

Open 胞 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Family & KinshipSociety & Public Life

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