集团公司 (jí tuán gōng sī) — group company, conglomerate

Definition

A corporate group / conglomerate — a parent company that owns multiple subsidiary companies. Contrast with 公司 (a single company); 集团公司 refers to the larger multi-company structure.

noun
group companyconglomerate
Measure word · 家

Examples

  • 集团公司。
    Zhè jiā jí tuán gōng sī shì shì jiè wǔ bǎi qiáng zhī yī.
    This group company is one of the Fortune 500.
  • 集团公司。
    Tā men jí tuán gōng sī de yè wù shè jí duō gè lǐng yù.
    Their group company's business covers multiple fields.
  • 集团公司。
    Tā zài zhè jiā jí tuán gōng sī dān rèn cái wù zǒng jiān.
    He serves as CFO at this group company.

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.

集团group
集jígathered团tuángroup
偏正Modifier + head
公司company
公gōngpublic司sīoffice
偏正Modifier + head

“集团” means a gathered group, and “公司” means company; together they mean a group company.

Characters in this word

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

集 pairs 隹 (bird) with 木 (tree), showing birds on a tree, hence a gathering.

Open 集 →

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 團; 团 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéi
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān團tuán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 團 combines 囗 as a meaning part with 專 as a sound part; the story is about 團, not about 团.

Open 团 →

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

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Open 公 →

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

The evidence is inconclusive: one suggestion sees 司 as a mouth giving orders beside a mark of authority, another reads that mark as a hand, and another sees it as a reversed older form.

Open 司 →

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