下人 (xià rén) — servant

Definition

A domestic servant in a household, almost always referring to pre-modern or historical servants. It has a lower-status, somewhat dated tone — modern contexts usually use 仆人.

noun
servant
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 下人。
    Tā shì yí gè zhōng shí de xià rén.
    He is a loyal servant.
  • 下人。
    Zhè jiā de xià rén gōng zuò hěn xīn kǔ.
    The servants of this household work very hard.
  • 下人。
    Gǔ dài guì zú jiā lǐ yǒu hěn duō xià rén.
    In ancient times, nobles' homes had many servants.

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.

下xiàlower
人rénperson

“下” means lower and “人” means person, so the meaning is a person of lower status, a servant.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

Open 下 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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