醉汉 (zuì hàn) — drunkard, drunken man

Definition

noun
drunkarddrunken man
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 醉汉
    Nà ge zuì hàn zài jiē shàng yáo yáo huàng huàng dì zǒu.
    That drunkard was staggering down the street.
  • 醉汉
    Jǐ gè zuì hàn zài jiǔ bā mén kǒu dà shēng chǎo jià.
    A few drunk men were loudly arguing at the bar entrance.
  • 醉汉
    Jǐng chá bǎ nà ge zuì hàn sòng huí le jiā.
    The police sent that drunkard back home.

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.

醉 means drunk and 汉 means man, so the word denotes a drunken man.

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
yǒualcoholic drink
Sound part声符shēngfú
zuì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

醉 combines 酉, a sign for alcoholic drink, with 卒, which supplies the sound.

Open 醉 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 汉 →

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