TongTong
Sign in

群体 (qún tǐ) — community (a group of people sharing common characteristics or interests); colony (a group of organisms living together, e.g., ants, bees)

Definition

群体 means 'group' — a collective of people or animals sharing something (a colony, a community). More of a neutral collective than 社区 ('neighborhood/community'), and broader than 群 ('crowd, herd' of gathered individuals).

noun
community (a group of people sharing common characteristics or interests)colony (a group of organisms living together, e.g., ants, bees)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 群体。
    Zhè ge qún tǐ hěn tuán jié.
    This community is very united.
  • 群体。
    Mǎ yǐ qún tǐ fēn gōng míng què.
    Ant colonies have a clear division of labor.
  • 群体。
    Bù tóng de shè huì qún tǐ yǒu bù tóng de wén huà.
    Different social communities have different cultures.

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.

群qúngroup
体tǐbody

群 group and 体 body combine to mean a body made of many individuals.

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
羊羊yáng
Sound part声符shēngfú
君
君jūn群
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

群 pairs 羊, a sheep, to point to a herd or group, with 君 giving the sound.

Open 群 →

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 體; 体 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
骨骨gǔbone
Sound part声符shēngfú
豊
豊lǐ體tǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 體 pairs 骨 (bone) with 豊 as a sound part; this note is about 體, not about the parts of 体.

Open 体 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Groups & Organizations

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.