人丛 (rén cóng) — crowd (of people); retinue; attendants accompanying an important person

Definition

Literary/formal word for a crowd of people, also used for the retinue following an important figure. More often seen in writing than everyday speech, where 人群 is the common term.

noun
crowd (of people)retinueattendants accompanying an important person

Examples

  • 人丛，。
    Zài rén cóng zhōng, wǒ kàn dào le yí gè shú xi de shēn yǐng.
    In the crowd, I saw a familiar figure.
  • 人丛。
    Guó wáng de rén cóng gēn zài mǎ chē hòu miàn.
    The king's retinue followed behind the carriage.
  • 人丛。
    Tā cóng rén cóng zhōng jǐ le chū lái.
    He squeezed out from the crowd.

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.

人rénpeople
丛cóngcluster

The 人 and 丛 together mean a cluster of people.

Characters in this word

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 →

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 叢; 丛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
丵丵zhuó
Sound part声符shēngfú
取
取qǔ叢cóng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 叢 for 丛 combines 丵 with 取, where 取 gives the sound.

Open 丛 →

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