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世家 (shì jiā) — aristocratic family; family influential for generations

Definition

世家 refers to a family of long-standing prestige and influence, often spanning many generations. Pairs with 子弟 ('sons and descendants') and can describe scholarly, official, or aristocratic lineages.

noun
aristocratic familyfamily influential for generations

Examples

  • 世家，。
    Tā chū shēn yú míng mén shì jiā, zǔ shàng hǎo jǐ dài dōu shì cháo tíng gāo guān.
    He comes from a distinguished aristocratic family; several previous generations were high officials at court.
  • 世家，。
    shì jiā Zǐ dì cóng xiǎo jiē shòu yán gé de jiā jiào, yán xíng jǔ zhǐ dōu hěn yǒu guī ju.
    Children from aristocratic families receive strict home education from a young age, and their manners are very proper.
  • 世家，。
    Nà shì yí gè zhù míng de shū xiāng shì jiā, chū guò hǎo jǐ wèi dà xué zhě.
    That is a renowned scholarly family, which has produced several great scholars.

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.

世shìgenerations
家jiāfamily

世家 joins 世 (generations) and 家 (family) for a family influential across generations.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 世 →

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →
Appears in
Family & Kinship

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