高徒 (gāo tú) — outstanding student; brilliant disciple

Definition

Literary/written term for an outstanding student or disciple of a master teacher. Mostly appears in the set phrase 名师出高徒 ('a great teacher produces a brilliant student').

noun
outstanding studentbrilliant disciple
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • “高徒”，。
    Sú huà shuō "míng shī chū gāo tú", guǒ rán bù jiǎ.
    As the saying goes, 'A famous teacher produces a brilliant student,' and it's really true.
  • 高徒，。
    Tā shì wáng jiào shòu de gāo tú, zài xué shù jiè yǐ jīng xiǎo yǒu míng qì.
    He is Professor Wang's distinguished disciple and has already made a name in academia.
  • 高徒，。
    Zhè wèi gāo tú zài bǐ sài zhōng huò dé le dì yī míng, wèi xué xiào zhēng le guāng.
    This brilliant student won first place in the competition, bringing honor to the school.

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.

高gāohigh
徒túdisciple

高 gives high or great, and 徒 gives disciple, so the term means an outstanding disciple.

Characters in this word

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

高 was drawn as a tall building.

Open 高 →

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
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
土
土tǔ徒tú
Same sound today

徒 originally paired 辵, a walking sign, with 土 to show its sound. The shape later changed into 彳 and 走.

Open 徒 →

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