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公民 (gōng mín) — citizen

Definition

公民 emphasizes legal/political status — someone with formal rights and duties of a state. 市民 is just a city resident; 国民 stresses belonging to a nation, often in a nationalistic tone.

noun
citizen
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 公民。
    Měi gè gōng mín dōu yīng gāi zūn shǒu fǎ lǜ.
    Every citizen should obey the law.
  • 公民。
    Tā chéng nián hòu chéng wéi le fǎ guó gōng mín.
    He became a French citizen.
  • 公民。
    gōng mín Yǒu quán lì xiǎng shòu yī liáo fú wù.
    Citizens have the right to enjoy medical services.

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.

公gōngpublic
民mínpeople

公 means public and 民 means people; together they denote a person belonging to the state.

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.

Open 公 →

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

The early form of 民 shows an eye pierced by a sharp cross-shaped implement, possibly linked to an injured or unclear eye.

Open 民 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Rights & Citizenship5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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