罗马教皇 (luó mǎ jiào huáng) — the Pope (head of the Roman Catholic Church)

Definition

Refers specifically to the head of the Roman Catholic Church, based in Vatican City. Equivalent to 'the Pope' in English.

noun
the Pope (head of the Roman Catholic Church)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 罗马教皇。
    luó mǎ jiào huáng Fǎng wèn le nà ge guó jiā.
    The Pope visited that country.
  • 罗马教皇。
    Zhè wèi luó mǎ jiào huáng fā biǎo le zhòng yào jiǎng huà.
    This Pope delivered an important speech.
  • 罗马教皇。
    Hěn duō rén qù guǎng chǎng jiàn luó mǎ jiào huáng.
    Many people went to the square to see the Pope.

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.

罗马Rome
罗luó马mǎ
音译Transliteration
教皇pope
教jiàoreligion皇huángemperor
偏正Modifier + head

罗马 names Rome, and 教皇 means the pope, giving the Roman pope.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 羅; 罗 is its simplified writing.

  • 网网wǎngnet
  • 維維wéibird (tied with string)

The traditional form 羅 combines 网 (net) with 維 (a bird tied with string) to show a net for catching birds; the simplified 罗 is a later abbreviation.

Open 罗 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

Open 马 →

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
子子zǐchild
攵Written in full as攴pūteaching cane; stick that represents authority
Sound part声符shēngfú
爻
爻yáo教jiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

教 uses 爻 for its sound and puts 子 (child) with 攵 (攴), a teaching cane, to show teaching a child.

Open 教 →

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.

Open 皇 →

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