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下议院 (xià yì yuàn) — lower house (of a bicameral legislature); House of Commons

Definition

The lower chamber of a two-house legislature — in the UK, this is the House of Commons. Pair it with 上议院 (the upper house).

noun
lower house (of a bicameral legislature)House of Commons

Examples

  • 下议院。
    Yīng guó xià yì yuàn de yì yuán yóu xuǎn mín zhí jiē xuǎn jǔ chǎn shēng.
    Members of the UK House of Commons are directly elected by voters.
  • 下议院。
    Zhè ge guó jiā de xià yì yuàn hé shàng yì yuàn gòng tóng xíng shǐ lì fǎ quán.
    The lower house and the upper house of this country jointly exercise legislative power.
  • 。
    Xīn fǎ àn zài xià yì yuàn yǐ duō shù piào tōng guò.
    The new bill passed the lower house by a majority vote.

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
议院deliberative house
议yìdeliberate院yuànhouse
偏正Modifier + head

下 gives lower and 议院 gives deliberative house, meaning lower chamber.

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 →

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 議; 议 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yántalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
義
義yì議⁰yì
Same sound today

The traditional form 議 pairs 言 (talk) with 義 as a sound component; the simplified 议 is a later shorthand.

Open 议 →

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
阝Written in full as阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
完
完wán院yuàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

院 is built from 阝, written in full as 阜, and 完, which gives the sound.

Open 院 →
Appears in
Government & Politics

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