故居 (gù jū) — former residence (especially of a historical figure)

Definition

noun
former residence (especially of a historical figure)

Examples

  • 故居。
    Zhè zuò gù jū shì zhù míng de lì shǐ yí jì.
    This former residence is a famous historical site.
  • 故居。
    Měi nián yǒu hěn duō yóu kè lái cān guān lǔ xùn gù jū.
    Every year many tourists come to visit Lu Xun's former residence.
  • 故居。
    Nà dòng gù jū yǐ jīng yǒu yì bǎi duō nián de lì shǐ le.
    That former residence has a history of over a hundred years.

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.

故gùformer
居jūresidence

故 means former, and 居 means dwelling, so it denotes a former residence.

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
攵Written in full as攴pū
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ故gù
Same sound today

故 uses 古 for the sound and 攵, written in full as 攴, for the meaning.

Open 故 →

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
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ居jū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

居 is built from 尸 as the meaning part and 古 (gǔ) as the sound part.

Open 居 →

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