侨 (qiáo) — bound form meaning 'living abroad' or 'overseas'

Definition

侨 (qiáo) is a bound form meaning 'living abroad / overseas Chinese', seen in compounds like 侨居, 华侨, 侨民. Use it only as a building block, never alone.

bound form

bound form meaning 'living abroad' or 'overseas'

Easily confused

。
Hěn duō huá qiáo shēng huó zài dōng nán yà.
Many overseas Chinese live in Southeast Asia.
。
Tā céng zài guó wài qiáo jū duō nián.
He lived abroad for many years.
。
Zhè ge chéng shì yǒu hěn duō qiáo mín.
This city has many expatriates.

Sound + meaning

六书liùshū

形声xíngshēng

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 僑; 侨 is its simplified writing.

亻喬僑

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

喬

喬qiáo僑qiáo

Same sound today

The traditional form 僑 pairs 亻 (person) with 喬 as a sound part; the simplified 侨 is a later shorthand.