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私立 (sī lì) — private (of schools, hospitals, companies, etc., as opposed to public)

Definition

Used mainly for schools, hospitals, and similar institutions to mean 'privately run' — the direct opposite of 公立. 私营 and 民营 are more common for businesses/enterprises.

private (of schools, hospitals, companies, etc., as opposed to public)

Examples

  • 私立。
    Zhè suǒ sī lì dà xué hěn yǒu míng.
    This private university is very famous.
  • 私立。
    Tā zài zhè jiā sī lì zhěn suǒ gōng zuò.
    He works at this private clinic.
  • 私立。
    sī lì Xué xiào de xué fèi bǐ jiào guì.
    Tuition at private schools is relatively expensive.

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.

私sīprivate
立lìestablish

私 means private and 立 means to establish, describing something established privately.

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
禾禾hé
Sound part声符shēngfú
厶
厶sī私sī
Same sound today

私 combines 禾 and 厶; 厶 originally represented the word, and 禾 was added later.

Open 私 →

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

立 pictures a person standing on the ground.

Open 立 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Abstract Concepts

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