公寓 (gōng yù) — apartment building; apartment (unit)

Definition

公寓 usually means the whole apartment building; the unit inside is a 套 apartment (一间公寓). 房子 is a more general word for any dwelling, including houses.

noun

apartment buildingapartment (unit)

Measure word · 套

公寓。
Zhè dòng gōng yù yǒu èr shí sì xiǎo shí bǎo ān.
This apartment building has 24-hour security.
公寓。
Wǒ zū le yì gōng yù lí gōng sī hěn jìn.
I rented an apartment close to the company.
公寓。
Tā men zhù zài xué xiào fù jìn de xīn gōng yù lǐ.
They live in a new apartment near the school.

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.

寓yùdwelling

公寓 combines 公, 'public', with 寓, 'dwelling', to mean an apartment building.

Characters in this word

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

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

宀禺寓

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀mián

Sound part声符shēngfú

禺

禺yú寓yù

Same sound today

寓 combines 宀, a roof, with 禺, which gives the sound.

Appears in