尽人皆知 (jìn rén jiē zhī) — be known to all; be common knowledge

Definition

Literally 'all people know it': used as a predicate to state a fact is universally known, stronger and more literary than 有名 or 众所周知.

idiom
be known to allbe common knowledge

Examples

  • 尽人皆知。
    Zhè jiàn shì yǐ jīng jìn rén jiē zhī le.
    This matter is already known to everyone.
  • 尽人皆知，。
    Tā de chéng jiù jìn rén jiē zhī, wú rén bù xiǎo.
    His achievements are common knowledge; everyone knows them.
  • 尽人皆知。
    Zhè ge mì mì hěn kuài biàn de jìn rén jiē zhī.
    This secret quickly became known to all.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

尽人all people
尽jìnall人rénpeople
偏正Modifier + head
皆知all know
皆jiēall知zhīknow
偏正Modifier + head

“尽人” means all people and “皆知” means all know, so everyone knows it.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 盡; 尽 is its simplified writing.

  • 聿聿yùhand holding a brush
  • 灬灬huǒbristles
  • 皿皿mǐndish

The traditional form 盡 shows 聿 (hand holding a brush) and 灬 (bristles) over 皿 (dish), cleaning a dish until it is empty. The simplified 尽 is a shorthand, not those historical parts.

Open 尽 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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
虍虍hū
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
几
几jǐ皆jiē
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early form 皆 used 虍 and 口 to show meaning and 几 to show sound.

Open 皆 →

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

An early form of 知 showed 大 (adult), 口 (mouth), and 子 (child): an adult speaking to a child to pass on knowledge. The 子 part was dropped, and the 大 part changed shape.

Open 知 →

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