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出身 (chū shēn) — (verb) to come from (a family background); to be born into; (noun) family background; origin

Definition

出身 is specifically one's family or class background (出身于 + 家庭/阶层), not a place of origin. Unlike 来自/出自 it does NOT mean 'come from a location' — for that, use 来自.

verb
to come from (a family background)to be born into
noun
family backgroundorigin

Examples

  • 出身。
    Tā chū shēn yú yí gè pǔ tōng gōng rén jiā tíng.
    He comes from an ordinary worker's family.
  • 出身。
    Tā de chū shēn bìng bù yǐng xiǎng tā hòu lái de chéng gōng.
    His background did not affect his later success.
  • 出身，。
    Tā chū shēn shū xiāng mén dì, cóng xiǎo jiù ài dú shū.
    She was born into a scholarly family and has loved reading since childhood.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

出chūcome out
身shēnbody; person

“出” suggests coming out, “身” refers to one's person or status, together they picture the background from which someone comes.

Characters in this word

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

出 combines 止 (foot) and 凵 (cave) to show a foot stepping out of a cave.

Open 出 →

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

The shape of 身 comes from a drawing of a pregnant woman.

Open 身 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Family & Kinship

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