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奴才 (nú cái) — slave, servant (especially in imperial contexts, e.g., Qing dynasty); lackey, toady, servile person (figurative, derogatory)

Definition

Historical self-reference used by officials addressing the emperor in imperial China, especially the Qing dynasty. Figuratively, it means 'servile toady' — a strong, derogatory insult for someone who flatters power.

noun
slaveservant (especially in imperial contexts, e.g., Qing dynasty)lackeytoadyservile person (figurative, derogatory)

Examples

  • 奴才。
    Gǔ dài de nú cái méi yǒu zì yóu.
    Slaves in ancient times had no freedom.
  • 奴才，。
    Tā duì lǎo bǎn de tài dù xiàng gè nú cái, zhēn ràng rén bù shū fu.
    His attitude toward the boss is like a lackey, really uncomfortable.
  • ，奴才。
    Zài qīng cháo, guān yuán cháng zài huáng dì miàn qián zì chēng nú cái.
    In the Qing dynasty, officials often called themselves 'slave' before the emperor.

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.

奴núslave
才cáiperson

奴 gives the sense of slave or servant, while 才 denotes a person, so the word means a servile person or lackey.

Characters in this word

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

奴 shows 又 (a hand) and 女 (a woman): a hand capturing and ordering a woman around.

Open 奴 →

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

才 originally drew a sharp peg, not a sprout growing from the ground.

Open 才 →
Appears in
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