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智囊 (zhì nāng) — wise advisor; brain truster

Definition

A 'brain trust' — a person or small group of trusted experts brought in to give strategic advice (literal 'wise pouch'). More specific than 顾问, which can mean any consultant; 智囊 implies a tight inner circle valued for sharp insight.

noun
wise advisorbrain truster

Examples

  • 智囊，。
    Tā shì yí wèi zhù míng de zhì nāng, wèi gōng sī tí chū le hěn duō hǎo jiàn yì.
    He is a famous brain truster who gave many good suggestions to the company.
  • 智囊，。
    Zhèng fǔ chéng lì le jīng jì zhì nāng xiǎo zǔ, yán jiū shì chǎng biàn huà.
    The government set up an economic brain trust group to study market changes.
  • 智囊。
    Zhè ge zhì nāng yóu wǔ wèi zhuān jiā zǔ chéng.
    This brain trust consists of five experts.

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.

智zhìwisdom
囊nángbag

“智” means wisdom and “囊” means bag, forming a “bag of wisdom” for a clever advisor.

Characters in this word

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

The early form 智 used 大 (adult), 口 (mouth), and 子 (child): an adult speaking to pass knowledge to a child.

Open 智 →

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
㯻㯻㯻bag
Sound part声符shēngfú
襄
襄xiāng囊náng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

囊 is made from 㯻, a tied bag with items inside, plus an abbreviated form of 襄 that gives the sound.

Open 囊 →
Appears in
ManagementProfessions & Jobs

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