公馆 (gōng guǎn) — mansion, residence of a wealthy or important pe… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

mansion, residence of a wealthy or important person

Measure word · 座

Examples

。
Tā zhù zài chéng dōng de yí zuò lǎo gōng guǎn lǐ.
He lives in an old mansion in the east of the city.
公馆。
Zhè zuò gōng guǎn yǐ jīng yǒu shàng bǎi nián de lì shǐ le.
This mansion already has a history of over a hundred years.
公馆。
Nà jiā gōng guǎn de zhǔ rén shì yí wèi yǒu míng de shāng rén.
The owner of that mansion is a famous businessman.

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.

馆guǎnresidence

公 (public/official) + 馆 (residence) names a grand residence.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 館; 馆 is its simplified writing.

飠官館

Meaning part形符xíngfú

飠Written in full as食shí

Sound part声符shēngfú

官

官guān館guǎn

Same sound today

The traditional form 館 is made of 食, written as 飠 on the left, and 官 on the right; 官 provides the sound. The simplified 馆 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

Buildings & Structures Home & Housing

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