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编外 (biān wài) — off-staff personnel; auxiliary staff outside the official quota; over-enrollment; exceeding the authorized headcount

Definition

Refers to personnel or units outside the official staffing quota (编制) — i.e., temporary, auxiliary, or extra hires. Often carries a sense of exceeding the authorized headcount.

noun
off-staff personnelauxiliary staff outside the official quotaover-enrollmentexceeding the authorized headcount

Examples

  • 编外，。
    Tā zài zhè ge dān wèi shì biān wài rén yuán, méi yǒu zhèng shì biān zhì.
    He is off-staff personnel at this unit and does not have a formal quota position.
  • 编外，。
    Yóu yú biān wài rén shù guò duō, gōng sī jué dìng jiǎn shǎo lín shí pìn yòng.
    Because the number of off-staff personnel is too large, the company decided to reduce temporary hires.
  • 编外，。
    Xué xiào jīn nián chū xiàn le biān wài xiàn xiàng, jiào shī shù liàng chāo guò le biān zhì míng é.
    The school experienced over-enrollment this year, with the number of teachers exceeding the quota.

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.

编biānroster
外wàioutside

“编” refers to the roster or establishment and “外” means outside; outside the roster gives off-staff personnel.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 編; 编 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìthread
Sound part声符shēngfú
扁
扁biǎn編biān
Same sound today

The traditional form 編 pairs 糸 (thread), for knitting a book together, with 扁 as the sound part; the simplified 编 is only a shorthand.

Open 编 →

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
卜卜bǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
月
月yuè外wài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

外 pairs 卜 with 月, a crescent moon; in its older form, the 卜 part had a horizontal bar extending outward, giving the sense of outside.

Open 外 →
Appears in
Workplace & Office

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