政委 (zhèng wěi) — political commissar (a senior political officer in the Chinese military)

Definition

The political commissar embedded in PLA units, co-leading with the unit commander (团长, 旅长). Distinct from 政委 as a generic Party secretary — in the military, this officer holds equal command rank, not just an advisory role.

noun
political commissar (a senior political officer in the Chinese military)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 政委。
    Tuán zhèng wěi zài yǎn xí qián gěi quán tǐ guān bīng zuò le sī xiǎng dòng yuán.
    The regimental political commissar gave a mobilization speech to all officers and soldiers before the exercise.
  • 政委。
    zhèng wěi Hé tuán zhǎng yì qǐ zhǐ huī le zhè cì kàng hóng qiǎng xiǎn rèn wu.
    The political commissar and the regimental commander jointly directed this flood rescue mission.
  • 政委。
    Shàng jí rèn mìng le yí wèi xīn de lǚ zhèng wěi.
    The higher authority appointed a new brigade political commissar.

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.

政zhèngpolitical
委wěicommittee/commissar

政 (political) specifies 委 (committee/commissar), naming a political officer.

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
攴攴pūaction
Sound part声符shēngfú
正
正zhèng政zhèng
Same sound today

政 combines 正, which gives the sound, with 攴, an action-related part.

Open 政 →

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
女女nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
禾
禾hé委wěi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

委 has 女 under 禾. 女, a woman, is the meaning part, and 禾 gives the sound.

Open 委 →

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