债权人 (zhài quán rén) — creditor

Definition

The party who is OWED money — paired with 债务人, the party who OWES. Used in formal/legal and financial contexts (loans, bankruptcy, contracts).

noun
creditor
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 债权人。
    Yín háng shì zhè jiā gōng sī de zuì dà zhài quán rén.
    The bank is this company's largest creditor.
  • 债权人。
    zhài quán rén Yǒu quán yāo qiú zhài wù rén àn shí huán kuǎn.
    The creditor has the right to demand the debtor repay on time.
  • ，债权人。
    Gōng sī pò chǎn hòu, zhài quán rén men zhǐ néng shōu huí yí bù fen zī jīn.
    After the company went bankrupt, the creditors could only recover part of the funds.

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.

债权debt right
债zhàidebt权quánright
偏正Modifier + head
人rénperson

债 means debt, 权 means right, and 人 means person, so the word denotes a person with a debt claim.

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 債; 债 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
責
責zé債zhài
Same sound today

The traditional form 債 combines 亻 (person) with 責 as a sound part; the simplified 债 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 债 →

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 權; 权 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn權quán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 權 shows 木, a tree, with 雚 giving the sound; it named a kind of tree and was used for a standard weight. The simplified 权 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 权 →

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 →

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