房主 (fáng zhǔ) — house owner; landlord | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Plain concrete noun meaning the owner of a house or apartment. In everyday usage 房主 covers both 'homeowner' and 'landlord who rents it out' — context picks the sense.

noun

house ownerlandlord

Measure word · 个

Examples

房主。
fáng zhǔ Yāo qiú zū kè àn shí jiāo fáng zū.
The landlord requires the tenant to pay rent on time.
房主。
Zhè tào fáng zi de fáng zhǔ yǐ jīng yí mín le.
The owner of this apartment has already emigrated.
房主。
fáng zhǔ Zài hé tong shàng qiān le zì.
The house owner signed the contract.

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.

房 means house and 主 means owner, giving the person who owns a house.

Characters in this word

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

戶戶hùdoor

Sound part声符shēngfú

方

方fāng房fáng

Same sound today

房 pairs 戶 (door) with 方 (fāng) as a sound part; 方 can also fit 'side,' as in a side room beside the main room.

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

The old forms that became 主 showed a lamp or torch with a flame at the top; other forms showed wood on fire or a spirit tablet.

Appears in

Social Roles & Status

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