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复员 (fù yuán) — to demobilize, to return to civilian life (after military service)

Definition

复员 (fùyuán) means a soldier returning to civilian life after discharge. It is the military-specific term — 退役 (tuìyì) is the more general word for 'to retire from service' (athletes, officials, etc.).

verb
to demobilizeto return to civilian life (after military service)

Examples

  • 。
    Tā fù le yuán yǐ hòu jiù huí lǎo jiā le.
    After he demobilized, he returned to his hometown.
  • 复员。
    Hěn duō jūn rén fù yuán hòu xuǎn zé shàng dà xué.
    Many soldiers choose to go to university after demobilization.
  • 复员。
    Tā fù yuán yǐ jīng sān nián le.
    It's been three years since he demobilized.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

复fùreturn
员yuánpersonnel

复 means return, and 员 means personnel, so military personnel return to civilian life.

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 復; 复 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 复 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (复习, 恢复) it is 復; in others (复印, 复杂) (答复, 反复) it is 複 or 覆.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
彳彳chìwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
复
复fù復fù
Same sound today

The traditional form 復 combines 彳, a walking part, with 复, a sound part, to show walking back and forth.

Open 复 →

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 員; 员 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
鼎鼎dǐngding
Sound part声符shēngfú
〇
〇líng員yuán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 員, 〇 supplies the sound and 鼎 supplies the meaning; the simplified 员 is a shortened form.

Open 员 →
Appears in
Military & Defense

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