随员 (suí yuán) — attendant, member of a retinue or entourage; (diplomatic) attaché, junior embassy officer

Definition

随员 covers two roles: members of a retinue who follow a VIP, and junior embassy officers (attaches). For a diplomat, prefer 随员 over 馆员 for the 'attache' sense.

noun
attendantmember of a retinue or entourage(diplomatic) attachéjunior embassy officer
Measure word · 名

Examples

  • ，随员。
    Zǒng tǒng chū xíng shí, yì qún suí yuán gēn zài hòu miàn.
    When the president travels, a group of attendants follows behind.
  • 随员。
    Tā gāng bèi rèn mìng wèi zhù fǎ guó shǐ guǎn de wén huà suí yuán.
    He was just appointed as the cultural attaché to the French embassy.
  • 随员。
    Dài biǎo tuán de suí yuán fù zé ān pái suǒ yǒu rì chéng.
    The delegation's attendants are responsible for arranging all schedules.

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.

随suífollow
员yuánmember

随 (follow) + 员 (member) gives a member of a following group.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 隨; 随 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalking
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡐦
𡐦𡐦隨suí
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 隨 pairs 辵 (walking) with 𡐦 (the sound part); the simplified 随 is a later shorthand.

Open 随 →

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 員; 员 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
鼎鼎dǐngding
Sound part声符shēngfú
〇
〇líng員yuán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 員, 〇 supplies the sound and 鼎 supplies the meaning; the simplified 员 is a shortened form.

Open 员 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.