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保证人 (bǎo zhèng rén) — guarantor

Definition

A person who formally promises to fulfill an obligation (like a loan or contract) if the main party cannot. Purely legal/bureaucratic term — essentially 'guarantor.'

noun
guarantor
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 保证人。
    Tā shì wǒ dài kuǎn de bǎo zhèng rén.
    He is the guarantor for my loan.
  • 保证人。
    Qiān hé tong shí xū yào yí wèi bǎo zhèng rén.
    A guarantor is needed when signing the contract.
  • 保证人，。
    Zuò wéi bǎo zhèng rén, nǐ yào chéng dān fǎ lǜ zé rèn.
    As a guarantor, you bear legal responsibility.

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.

保证guarantee
保bǎoensure证zhèngprove
联合Coordinate
人rénperson

保证 combines 保 “ensure” and 证 “prove”, while 人 means “person”, giving a person who guarantees.

Characters in this word

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

保 originally showed a person 人 carrying a child 子 on their back, which led to the sense of protecting.

Open 保 →

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 證; 证 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
登
登dēng證zhèng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 證 pairs 言, a words/speech part, with 登 as a sound clue; the simplified 证 is a later shorthand.

Open 证 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
Law & Justice

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