工作间 (gōng zuò jiān) — workshop; workroom | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A room or small space set aside for hands-on work, crafting, or art. More specific than 工作室, which often refers to a creative business or company.

noun

workshopworkroom

Measure word · 间

Examples

工作间。
Zhè ge gōng zuò jiān shè bèi hěn qí quán.
This workshop is fully equipped.
工作间。
Tā zài gōng zuò jiān lǐ huà le yì fú huà.
He painted a picture in the studio.
工作间。
Zhè ge gōng zuò jiān xū yào chóng xīn zhuāng xiū.
This workshop needs to be renovated.

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.

工作work

工gōngwork作zuòdo

联合Coordinate

A room for work, 工作 'work' specifying 间 'room'.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

亻乍作

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

乍

乍zhà作zuò

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

Rooms & Spaces Workplace & Office

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