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天主教徒 (tiān zhǔ jiào tú) — Catholic (a person who follows Catholicism)

Definition

天主教徒 means 'Catholic' — a follower of Catholicism, specifically Roman Catholicism under the Pope, not Protestantism or other Christian denominations. The ending -徒 marks a believer/practitioner of a religion, parallel to 基督徒 (Christian).

noun
Catholic (a person who follows Catholicism)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 天主教徒。
    Wǒ nǎi nai shì yí wèi qián chéng de tiān zhǔ jiào tú.
    My grandmother is a devout Catholic.
  • 天主教徒。
    Zhè ge cūn zi lǐ dà bù fen jū mín dōu shì tiān zhǔ jiào tú.
    Most of the residents in this village are Catholics.
  • 天主教徒。
    tiān zhǔ jiào tú Měi xīng qī rì dōu huì qù jiào táng zuò mí sa.
    Catholics go to church for mass every Sunday.

Origin

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
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →

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

The old forms that became 主 showed a lamp or torch with a flame at the top; other forms showed wood on fire or a spirit tablet.

Open 主 →

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
子子zǐchild
攵Written in full as攴pūteaching cane; stick that represents authority
Sound part声符shēngfú
爻
爻yáo教jiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

教 uses 爻 for its sound and puts 子 (child) with 攵 (攴), a teaching cane, to show teaching a child.

Open 教 →

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
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
土
土tǔ徒tú
Same sound today

徒 originally paired 辵, a walking sign, with 土 to show its sound. The shape later changed into 彳 and 走.

Open 徒 →
Appears in
Religion & Belief

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