皇室 (huáng shì) — royal family; imperial household

Definition

noun

royal familyimperial household

皇室。
Zhè ge guó jiā de huáng shì yǐ yǒu jǐ bǎi nián de lì shǐ.
This country's royal family has a history of several hundred years.
皇室。
Tā duì huáng shì de shēng huó fēi cháng gǎn xìng qù.
He is very interested in the life of the royal family.
皇室。
huáng shì De chéng yuán men jīng cháng cān jiā gōng yì huó dòng.
Members of the royal family often participate in charity events.

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.

室shìhousehold

皇室 is the 室 (household) of the 皇 (emperor).

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

𤼽𤼽𤼽

Sound part声符shēngfú

王

王wáng皇huáng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The part 𤼽 originally drew a single peacock feather; 王 was later added to give the sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

宀至室

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀miánroof

Sound part声符shēngfú

至

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

室 puts 宀 (roof) over 至, the spot where someone stops, giving the meaning of a house or residence.

Appears in