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车主 (chē zhǔ) — vehicle owner

Definition

车主 is the person who legally owns a vehicle — not the same as 司机 (the driver), who may or may not own the car.

noun
vehicle owner
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 车主。
    Wǒ shì zhè liàng chē de chē zhǔ.
    I am the owner of this car.
  • 车主。
    chē zhǔ Xū yào tián xiě zhè zhāng biǎo gé.
    The vehicle owner needs to fill out this form.
  • 车主。
    Jǐng chá zhèng zài lián xì chē zhǔ.
    The police are contacting the vehicle owner.

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.

车chēvehicle
主zhǔowner

The first part names a vehicle, and the second names an owner, so together they mean the person who owns a vehicle.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →

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
HSK 3.0 Level 5Vehicles

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