官阶 (guān jiē) — official rank (in a hierarchy)

Definition

Formal term for 'official rank' in a bureaucratic hierarchy, typically historical or institutional. Compared to the everyday 职位 (job position), 官阶 emphasizes rank/grade within a hierarchy rather than a specific post.

noun
official rank (in a hierarchy)

Examples

  • 官阶，。
    Tā de guān jiē hěn gāo, zài bù mén lǐ hěn yǒu quán lì.
    His official rank is very high; he has a lot of power in the department.
  • ，官阶。
    Tā yīn wèi biǎo xiàn chū sè, hěn kuài jiù bèi tí shēng dào le gèng gāo de guān jiē.
    Because of his excellent performance, he was quickly promoted to a higher official rank.
  • 官阶，。
    Zhōng guó gǔ dài de guān jiē zhì dù fēi cháng fù zá, fēn wéi jiǔ pǐn.
    The official rank system in ancient China was very complex, divided into nine grades.

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.

官guānofficial
阶jiērank

官 means official and 阶 means rank, together an official's place in a hierarchy.

Characters in this word

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

  • 宀宀mián
  • 𠂤𠂤𠂤

官 pairs 宀, a roof, with 𠂤, rooms beneath it, to depict an official building.

Open 官 →

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 階; 阶 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
皆
皆jiē階jiē
Same sound today

The traditional form 階 uses 阝 (written in full as 阜) to relate to its meaning and 皆 to show its sound; the simplified 阶 is a later shorthand, so its right side is not the old sound part.

Open 阶 →

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