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信徒 (xìn tú) — believer; disciple (of a religion, ideology, or person)

Definition

信徒 means a devoted follower — used for both religious believers and loyal disciples of a person or ideology. Covers both 宗教 and 非宗教 devotion, unlike more religion-specific terms.

noun
believerdisciple (of a religion, ideology, or person)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 信徒。
    Zhè xiē xìn tú měi zhōu dōu qù jiào táng zuò lǐ bài.
    These believers go to church every week for worship.
  • 信徒。
    Tā shì nà wèi zhé xué jiā de zhōng shí xìn tú.
    He is a loyal disciple of that philosopher.
  • 信徒。
    Hěn duō xìn tú jù jí zài guǎng chǎng shàng qí dǎo.
    Many believers gathered in the square to pray.

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.

信xìnfaith
徒túfollower

信 (faith) and 徒 (follower) combine to mean a follower of 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánwords
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén信xìn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

信 pairs 人 as the sound part with 言 (words) as the meaning part.

Open 信 →

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
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
土
土tǔ徒tú
Same sound today

徒 originally paired 辵, a walking sign, with 土 to show its sound. The shape later changed into 彳 and 走.

Open 徒 →
Appears in
Religion & Belief

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