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全权 (quán quán) — full powers, plenary powers; full responsibility

Definition

Refers to complete, delegated authority to act or decide on someone's behalf — 'plenipotentiary' in diplomatic contexts, or 'full responsibility' when someone is given total charge of a matter.

noun
full powersplenary powersfull responsibility

Examples

  • ，。
    Tā bèi rèn mìng wèi quán quán dài biǎo, fù zé tán pàn.
    He was appointed as a plenipotentiary representative to handle the negotiations.
  • 全权，。
    Zhè jiàn shì yóu nǐ quán quán fù zé, bú yòng zài qǐng shì le.
    You have full responsibility for this matter; no need to ask for further instructions.
  • 全权。
    Dà shǐ guǎn shòu yǔ tā quán quán chǔ lǐ jǐn jí shì wù.
    The embassy granted him full powers to handle emergency affairs.

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.

全quáncomplete
权quánpower

全 means complete and 权 means power; together they describe complete authority.

Characters in this word

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

The shape puts 入 together with 玉 to show a whole piece of jade, so it means complete or whole.

Open 全 →

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 →
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