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船主 (chuán zhǔ) — shipowner; captain, skipper (of a boat)

Definition

船主 can mean either the owner of a ship or its captain — the owner sense is more common in commercial shipping, while the captain sense appears with smaller boats.

noun
shipownercaptainskipper (of a boat)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 船主。
    Zhè wèi chuán zhǔ jīng yíng yì jiā dà xíng háng yùn gōng sī.
    This shipowner runs a large shipping company.
  • 船主。
    chuán zhǔ Bì xū què bǎo chuán shàng suǒ yǒu shè bèi dōu ān quán.
    The captain must ensure that all equipment on the boat is safe.
  • 船主，。
    Tā dāng le èr shí nián chuán zhǔ, jīng yàn hěn fēng fù.
    He has been a shipowner for twenty years and is very experienced.

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.

船chuánship
主zhǔowner/master

船 means ship; 主 means owner or master, so the owner of a ship.

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
舟舟zhōuboat
Sound part声符shēngfú
㕣
㕣㕣船
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

船 pairs 舟 (boat) with 㕣 for its sound.

Open 船 →

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

The old forms that became 主 showed a lamp or torch with a flame at the top; other forms showed wood on fire or a spirit tablet.

Open 主 →
Appears in
Professions & JobsBoats & Water Travel

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