学术界 (xué shù jiè) — academic circles, the academic community, academia

Definition

Refers to the community of scholars and researchers as a whole, not just one field. Often paired with 人士 ('人士 from academia') or contrasted with 工业界 ('industry') and 政界 ('political circles').

noun
academic circlesthe academic communityacademia

Examples

  • 学术界。
    Tā zài xué shù jiè hěn yǒu míng.
    He is very famous in academic circles.
  • 学术界。
    xué shù jiè Duì zhè ge xīn lǐ lùn yǒu hěn duō tǎo lùn.
    There is a lot of discussion in academia about this new theory.
  • 学术界。
    Tā shì yí wèi xué shù jiè rén shì.
    She is a person from the academic community.

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.

学术academia
学xuélearning术shùskill
联合Side by side
界jièfield

“学” and “术” cover learning and skill, and “界” marks the whole field, giving academia.

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 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

Open 学 →

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 術; 术 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
行行xíngstreet, path
Sound part声符shēngfú
朮
朮zhú術shù
Same sound today

The traditional form 術 has 行 (street, path) beside 朮, which gives the sound; the simplified 术 is a later shorthand.

Open 术 →

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
田田tiánfield
Sound part声符shēngfú
介
介jiè界jiè
Same sound today

界 is built from 田 (field) and 介. 田 carries the meaning, while 介 gives the sound.

Open 界 →

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