牧民 (mù mín) — herdsman; herder

Definition

noun
herdsmanherder
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 牧民。
    Cǎo yuán shàng de mù mín měi tiān qīng chén dōu yào qù fàng niú.
    The herdsmen on the grassland have to go herd cattle every early morning.
  • 牧民。
    Yí wèi lǎo mù mín gào sù wǒ zěn yàng biàn bié yě shēng cǎo yào.
    An old herdsman told me how to identify wild medicinal herbs.
  • ,牧民。
    Suí zhe chéng shì huà de tuī jìn, xǔ duō mù mín xuǎn zé dìng jū zài chéng zhèn.
    With the advance of urbanization, many herdsmen choose to settle in towns.

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.

牧mùherd
民mínpeople

牧 (herd) and 民 (people) combine to mean people who herd animals.

Characters in this word

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

牧 puts 牛 (cow) beside 攴 (a whip), showing someone herding cattle.

Open 牧 →

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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