雇佣军 (gù yōng jūn) — mercenary army; mercenary troops

Definition

noun
mercenary armymercenary troops

Examples

  • 雇佣军。
    Hěn duō guó jiā shǐ yòng gù yōng jūn cān yù zhàn zhēng.
    Many countries use mercenary armies to participate in wars.
  • 雇佣军。
    gù yōng jūn De chéng yuán lái zì shì jiè gè dì.
    The members of a mercenary army come from all over the world.
  • 雇佣军，。
    Zhè zhī gù yōng jūn zhuāng bèi jīng liáng, xùn liàn yǒu sù.
    This mercenary army is well-equipped and well-trained.

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.

雇佣hired
雇gùhire佣yōngemploy
联合Side by side
军jūnarmy

The 雇佣 hired status describes the 军 army, naming troops hired for pay.

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
隹隹zhuī
Sound part声符shēngfú
戶
戶hù雇gù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

雇 is made of 戶 and 隹: 戶 points to the sound, and 隹 points to the meaning.

Open 雇 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 佣 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 軍; 军 is its simplified writing.

  • 車車jūcart; chariot
  • 勹勹bāoto surround

In the traditional form 軍, 車 shows the chariot sense, while the part now written 勹 is a sound part, not the 'surround' 勹. Simplified 军 is a later shorthand.

Open 军 →

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