旧有 (jiù yǒu) — pre-existing, former, old (of systems, institutions, practices)

Definition

Formal adjective meaning 'preexisting, former' — used almost only in writing about systems, institutions, or frameworks. Stronger and more literary than 已有.

adjective
pre-existingformerold (of systems, institutions, practices)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 旧有。
    Wǒ men yīng gāi gǎi gé jiù yǒu de tǐ zhì.
    We should reform the existing system.
  • 旧有。
    Zhè ge lǐ lùn shì jī yú jiù yǒu de kuàng jià fā zhǎn qǐ lái de.
    This theory was developed based on the previous framework.
  • 旧有。
    jiù yǒu De guǎn lǐ mó shì yǐ jīng bú zài shì yòng.
    The old management model is no longer applicable.

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.

旧jiùold/former
有yǒuexisting/possessed

旧 contributes 'old/former' and 有 contributes 'existing/possessed', together meaning pre-existing.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 舊; 旧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
雈雈huánowl
Sound part声符shēngfú
臼
臼jiù舊jiù
Same sound today

The traditional form of 旧 is 舊, which shows 雈, an owl, above 臼, which gives the sound.

Open 旧 →

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
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.