基业 (jī yè) — foundation or base of an enterprise or career; family estate or legacy

Definition

A formal noun for the lasting foundation or legacy of a business or family — often used for inheritances and multi-generational enterprises. Found mainly in written or fixed phrases like 打下基业 (establish a foundation) rather than everyday speech.

noun
foundation or base of an enterprise or careerfamily estate or legacy

Examples

  • ，基业。
    Tā bái shǒu qǐ jiā, zhōng yú dǎ xià le zì jǐ de jī yè.
    He started from scratch and finally established his own enterprise foundation.
  • 基业，。
    Zhè fèn jī yè shì zǔ bèi liú xià de, wǒ men yào hǎo hǎo bǎo hù.
    This family estate was left by our ancestors; we must protect it well.
  • ，基业。
    Jīng guò sān dài rén de nǔ lì, gōng sī de jī yè yuè lái yuè wěn gù.
    Through three generations of effort, the company's foundation has grown increasingly solid.

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.

基jīfoundation; base
业yèenterprise; estate

The idea of a foundation or base in 基 describes what kind of enterprise or estate 业 refers to.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
其
其qí基jī
Same sound today

The lower 土 means earth, and the upper 其 gives the sound; together they form the idea of a foundation of earth.

Open 基 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 業; 业 is its simplified writing.

  • 丵丵zhuóchisel
  • 大大dàperson; big

The traditional 業 is explained as a picture of a beam from which bells and chimes hang, or as a person lifting that beam. The simplified 业 is a shorthand, not the original shape.

Open 业 →

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