传道士 (chuán dào shi) — missionary, preacher

Definition

A 传道士 is a person who spreads a religion — a missionary or evangelist, often one who travels to preach. Note the pinyin here is chuán, not zhuàn (传记).

noun
missionarypreacher
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 传道士。
    Zhè wèi chuán dào shi zài fēi zhōu chuán jiào èr shí nián.
    This missionary has preached in Africa for twenty years.
  • 传道士。
    Hěn duō chuán dào shi lái dào zhōng guó chuán bō fú yīn.
    Many missionaries came to China to spread the gospel.
  • 传道士，。
    Tā shì yí wèi jī dū jiào chuán dào shi, měi zhōu dōu yào qù jiào táng jiǎng dào.
    He is a Christian missionary who goes to church every week to preach.

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.

传道preach the way
传chuánspread道dàoway
动宾Verb + object
士shìperson

"传" conveys spreading, "道" is the way, and "士" identifies the person doing it.

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
行行xíngstreet
止止zhǐfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
𩠐
首shǒu道dào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Open 道 →

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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