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企业 (qǐ yè) — company; firm; enterprise

Definition

企业 usually refers to a company in a formal or business context (财报, 企业文化), wider in scope than the everyday 公司. Pairs with 家. Compare 集团, a larger conglomerate.

noun
companyfirmenterprise
Measure word · 家

Examples

  • 企业。
    Zhè jiā qǐ yè zhèng zài zhāo pìn xīn yuán gōng.
    This company is recruiting new employees.
  • 企业。
    Hěn duō xiǎo xíng qǐ yè zài yì qíng qī jiān dǎo bì le.
    Many small enterprises went bankrupt during the pandemic.
  • 企业。
    qǐ yè Wén huà duì yuán gōng de gōng zuò mǎn yì dù yǒu hěn dà yǐng xiǎng.
    Corporate culture has a great impact on employee job satisfaction.

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.

企qǐplan; undertake
业yèbusiness

企 means to plan or undertake, and 业 means business; together they denote an organized business undertaking.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

企 pairs 人 (person) with 止 (foot), showing a person standing on tiptoes.

Open 企 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 業; 业 is its simplified writing.

  • 丵丵zhuóchisel
  • 大大dàperson; big

The traditional 業 is explained as a picture of a beam from which bells and chimes hang, or as a person lifting that beam. The simplified 业 is a shorthand, not the original shape.

Open 业 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Business & Commerce5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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