就位 (jiù wèi) — to take one's position, to take one's seat (formal context)

Definition

就位 (jiùwèi) means 'to take one's place/position', used formally when people (soldiers, performers, meeting attendees) move into their assigned spots. Often paired with 各位 or 各就各位 as a command.

verb
to take one's positionto take one's seat (formal context)

Examples

  • 就位，。
    Qǐng gè wèi jiù wèi, yǎn chū mǎ shàng kāi shǐ.
    Everyone, please take your seats; the performance is about to start.
  • 就位，。
    Dà jiā dōu yǐ jiù wèi, jiù děng nǐ yí gè rén le.
    Everyone has already taken their places; we're just waiting for you.
  • ，。
    Wǒ men jiù le wèi zhī hòu, huì yì zhèng shì kāi shǐ.
    After we all took our positions, the meeting officially began.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

就jiùtake up
位wèiposition

就 'take up' and 位 'position' together mean settling into one's assigned place.

Characters in this word

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

An older form paired 享, a temple, with 京, a tower, showing sacrifice at a high place; in 就 the temple part was dropped and a right part for going upward was added.

Open 就 →

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
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
立
立lì位wèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

位 combines 人 (man), related to people, with 立, which gives the sound. It was often simply written as 立.

Open 位 →

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