编者 (biān zhě) — editor (of a newspaper, book, or publication); compiler (of a collection, anthology, or reference work)

Definition

编者 refers to the person who edits or compiles a publication — used for editors of magazines/journals and for compilers of dictionaries or anthologies. Written/formal register; a scholar heading a collection rather than a daily newspaper editor.

noun
editor (of a newspaper, book, or publication)compiler (of a collection, anthology, or reference work)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 编者。
    biān zhě Zài zhè qī zá zhì zhōng jiā rù le yì piān shēn dù bào dào.
    The editor added an in-depth report to this issue of the magazine.
  • 编者。
    Zhè bù cí diǎn de biān zhě huā le shí nián shí jiān wán chéng biān zuǎn.
    The compiler of this dictionary spent ten years completing the compilation.
  • 编者，。
    Zuò wéi biān zhě, tā fù zé shěn chá měi yì piān wén zhāng de zhǔn què xìng.
    As the editor, he is responsible for checking the accuracy of every article.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

编biāncompile/edit
者zhěperson

编 means compile and 者 refers to a person, so the word means one who compiles or edits.

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 →

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

The form 者 originally drew a sugarcane with full stems, small points around it, and an open smiling mouth at the bottom.

Open 者 →

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