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母公司 (mǔ gōng sī) — parent company

Definition

noun
parent company
Measure word · 家

Examples

  • 母公司。
    Zhè jiā mǔ gōng sī yōng yǒu duō jiā zǐ gōng sī.
    This parent company owns several subsidiaries.
  • 母公司。
    mǔ gōng sī Fù zé zhì dìng zhěng gè jí tuán de zhàn lüè.
    The parent company is responsible for setting the strategy of the entire group.
  • 母公司。
    Zǐ gōng sī de zhòng dà tóu zī xū yào mǔ gōng sī pī zhǔn.
    Major investments by subsidiaries require approval from the parent company.

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.

母mǔmother
公司company
公gōngpublic司sīoffice
偏正Modifier + head

母 (parent) and 公司 (company) together mean a parent company.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 母 →

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

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Open 公 →

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

The evidence is inconclusive: one suggestion sees 司 as a mouth giving orders beside a mark of authority, another reads that mark as a hand, and another sees it as a reversed older form.

Open 司 →
Appears in
Business & Commerce

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