花名册 (huā míng cè) — register, roster (list of names) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A written list of people's names — a register or roster. Literally "flower-name book," from the old Cantonese lottery practice of marking names with a flower; now a neutral compound for any official name list.

noun

registerroster (list of names)

Measure word · 本

Examples

花名册。
Gōng sī yǒu yí fèn xīn de huā míng cè.
The company has a new roster.
花名册。
Qǐng bǎ xīn yuán gōng de míng zì jiā rù huā míng cè.
Please add the new employee's name to the roster.
花名册。
huā míng cè Shàng xiě zhe suǒ yǒu xué shēng de míng zì.
The roster lists all the students' names.

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.

花名various names

花huāvarious名míngnames

偏正Modifier + head

册cèregister

花 (various) and 名 (names) listed in a 册 (register) make a roster.

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.

艹化花

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

化

Same sound today

花 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 化, which gives the sound.

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

夕口名

夕夕xīcrescent moon
口口kǒumouth

名 puts 夕 (crescent moon) above 口 (mouth), showing a name spoken in the dark.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 冊; 册 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 冊 shows bamboo slips strung together, the pages of a book; the simplified 册 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

Workplace & Office

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