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无家可归者 (wú jiā kě guī zhě) — homeless person

Definition

Literal 'person with no home to return to', used in formal, written, or media contexts (government reports, journalism) for a homeless person. The everyday spoken word is 流浪汉.

noun
homeless person
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 无家可归者。
    Chéng shì lǐ yǒu hěn duō wú jiā kě guī zhě.
    There are many homeless people in the city.
  • 无家可归者。
    Zhèng fǔ yīng gāi bāng zhù wú jiā kě guī zhě.
    The government should help homeless people.
  • 无家可归者。
    Dōng tiān duì wú jiā kě guī zhě lái shuō hěn nán áo.
    Winter is hard for homeless people.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

无家可归no home to return to
无wúno家jiāhome可kěcan归guīreturn
动宾Verb + object
者zhěperson

无家 gives 'no home', 可归 gives 'able to return', and 者 gives 'the person', so it means 'homeless person'.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →

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
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
丂
丂kǎo可kě
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

可 pairs 口 (mouth) with 丂 as a sound part; it is tied to air from the mouth, perhaps singing.

Open 可 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 歸; 归 is its simplified writing.

  • 𠂤𠂤𠂤ancient form of {{zh-l|*師|troops}}
  • 帚帚zhǒubroom; sweep

The traditional form 歸 combines 𠂤 (troops) and 帚 (broom; sweep) to show sweeping away an enemy and returning; the simplified 归 is a later abbreviation.

Open 归 →

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

The form 者 originally drew a sugarcane with full stems, small points around it, and an open smiling mouth at the bottom.

Open 者 →
Appears in
People (General)Society & Public Life

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