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王位 (wáng wèi) — throne (the position or rank of a monarch)

Definition

noun
throne (the position or rank of a monarch)

Examples

  • 王位。
    Tā jì chéng le fù qīn de wáng wèi.
    He inherited his father's throne.
  • 王位，。
    Wèi le wáng wèi, tā men xiōng dì zhī jiān hù xiāng zhēng dòu.
    They fought each other for the throne.
  • 王位，。
    Tā zhǔ dòng fàng qì le wáng wèi, guò shàng le pǔ tōng shēng huó.
    He voluntarily gave up the throne and lived an ordinary life.

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.

王wángking
位wèiposition

王 means king and 位 means position or seat, denoting the king's throne.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 王 comes from a picture of a ritual axe, an object kept near a throne and connected with royal power.

Open 王 →

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
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
立
立lì位wèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

位 combines 人 (man), related to people, with 立, which gives the sound. It was often simply written as 立.

Open 位 →
Appears in
Government & Politics

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