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游民 (yóu mín) — vagrant; vagabond

Definition

Refers to people with no fixed home or job who drift from place to place — a vagrant or homeless wanderer. Carries a more written, historical tone than everyday terms like 流浪汉.

noun
vagrantvagabond
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 游民。
    Zhè zuò chéng shì lǐ yǒu hěn duō yóu mín zài jiē tóu liú làng.
    There are many vagrants wandering the streets in this city.
  • 游民。
    Gǔ dài shè huì cháng cháng bǎ wú yè zhě chēng wéi yóu mín.
    Ancient societies often called the unemployed vagabonds.
  • 游民。
    Zhèng fǔ tuī chū le xīn zhèng cè lái bāng zhù yóu mín zhǎo dào gōng zuò.
    The government introduced new policies to help vagrants find jobs.

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.

游yóuwander
民mínperson

The idea of 游 as wandering and 民 as person gives someone who wanders.

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
斿
斿yóu游yóu
Same sound today

游 combines 水 (water) with 斿, which gives the sound yóu and also relates to travelling.

Open 游 →

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

The early form of 民 shows an eye pierced by a sharp cross-shaped implement, possibly linked to an injured or unclear eye.

Open 民 →
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