集团 (jí tuán) — group, corporation, conglomerate (a large busin…

Definition

集团 (jítuán) is a large corporation or business conglomerate, bigger than 公司 or 企业. 团体 is a non-commercial organization like a club or association.

noun

groupcorporationconglomerate (a large business or political organization formed by multiple entities)

Measure word · 个

集团。
Zhè ge jí tuán qí xià yǒu shí jǐ jiā zǐ gōng sī.
This group has over a dozen subsidiaries under it.
集团。
Tā men jí tuán zhèng zài tuò zhǎn hǎi wài shì chǎng.
Their conglomerate is expanding into overseas markets.
集团。
Guó jì jí tuán de jìng zhēng yuè lái yuè jī liè.
Competition among international corporations is getting fiercer.

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jígathered

集 suggests gathered together and 团 denotes a group or clump, giving a large organized group.

Characters in this word

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

隹木集

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

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.

囗專團

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.

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