侨居 (qiáo jū) — to reside abroad, to live overseas

Definition

侨居 (qiáojū) means to live abroad as an expatriate — a formal, written word emphasizing long-term or settled residence in a foreign country. Note that 侨居 is intransitive and is often used in set phrases like 侨居海外.

verb
to reside abroadto live overseas

Examples

  • 侨居。
    Tā qiáo jū hǎi wài yǐ jīng shí nián le.
    He has been living abroad for ten years already.
  • 侨居。
    Hěn duō huá rén qiáo jū zài dōng nán yà.
    Many Chinese people reside in Southeast Asia.
  • 侨居。
    Tā nián qīng shí céng qiáo jū měi guó.
    She once lived in the United States when she was young.

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.

侨qiáosojourner
居jūreside

侨 (sojourner) and 居 (reside) combine to mean living away from one's homeland.

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 僑; 侨 is its simplified writing.

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.

Open 侨 →

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
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ居jū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

居 is built from 尸 as the meaning part and 古 (gǔ) as the sound part.

Open 居 →

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