传教士 (chuán jiào shì) — missionary (a person sent to promote a religion, especially Christianity, in a foreign country)

Definition

noun
missionary (a person sent to promote a religion, especially Christianity, in a foreign country)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 传教士。
    Nà wèi chuán jiào shì zài fēi zhōu shēng huó le èr shí nián.
    That missionary lived in Africa for twenty years.
  • 传教士。
    Shí jiǔ shì jì hěn duō xī fāng chuán jiào shì lái dào zhōng guó.
    In the 19th century, many Western missionaries came to China.
  • 传教士。
    Tā men cūn zi lǐ yǒu yí zuò chuán jiào shì jiàn de xué xiào.
    Their village has a school built by missionaries.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

传教propagate teachings
传chuánpropagate教jiàoteachings
动宾Verb + object
士shìperson

传教 (propagate teachings) with 士 (person) gives someone who spreads a faith.

Characters in this word

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 傳; 传 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān傳chuán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 傳 puts 人 (man) beside 專, which gives the sound; the simplified 传 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 传 →

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
子子zǐchild
攵Written in full as攴pūteaching cane; stick that represents authority
Sound part声符shēngfú
爻
爻yáo教jiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

教 uses 爻 for its sound and puts 子 (child) with 攵 (攴), a teaching cane, to show teaching a child.

Open 教 →

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

The shape 士 comes from a simple drawing of a war axe. The character later came to mean a soldier, officer, or intellectual.

Open 士 →

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