就职 (jiù zhí) — to take office, to assume a post

Definition

Formal written word for assuming a post, common in official contexts like 就职仪式. Compare 就任 (more formal/literary) and 上任 (can also mean predecessor).

verb

to take officeto assume a post

Examples

就职。
Xīn zǒng tǒng jiāng yú míng nián jiù zhí.
The new president will take office next year.
就职。
jiù zhí Yí shì zài rén mín dà huì táng jǔ xíng.
The inauguration ceremony is held at the Great Hall of the People.
就职。
Tā zuó tiān zhèng shì jiù zhí le.
He formally took office yesterday.

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; go to

职zhíoffice; post

就 means to take up, and 职 means office or post, so the word means taking up an official position.

Characters in this word

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

享享xiǎng
京京jīng

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 職; 职 is its simplified writing.

耳戠職

Meaning part形符xíngfú

耳耳ěrear

Sound part声符shēngfú

戠

戠zhí職zhí

Same sound today

The traditional form 職 pairs 耳 (ear) with 戠, which gives its sound; the simplified 职 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 职 →