主编 (zhǔ biān) — (noun) editor-in-chief; (verb) to serve as edit…

Definition

The person in charge of a publication's content (noun, 'editor-in-chief'), and the verb 'to serve as chief editor.' Both roles go in one word.

noun

editor-in-chief

verb

to serve as editor-in-chief (of a publication)to edit as chief editor

Measure word · 位

主编。
Tā shì nà jiā zá zhì shè de zhǔ biān.
He is the editor-in-chief of that magazine.
主编，。
Zhè bù cí diǎn yóu tā zhǔ biān, nèi róng hěn fēng fù.
This dictionary was edited by him as chief editor, and its content is very rich.
主编。
Tā zhǔ biān guò hǎo jǐ běn chàng xiāo shū.
He has served as editor-in-chief for several best-selling books.

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.

主 means chief and 编 refers to editing, so 主编 is the chief editor.

Characters in this word

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

The old forms that became 主 showed a lamp or torch with a flame at the top; other forms showed wood on fire or a spirit tablet.

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 編; 编 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìthread

Sound part声符shēngfú

扁

Same sound today

The traditional form 編 pairs 糸 (thread), for knitting a book together, with 扁 as the sound part; the simplified 编 is only a shorthand.

Appears in