TongTong
Sign in

协会 (xié huì) — association; society (organized group of people with a common interest or purpose)

Definition

An organized group of people sharing a profession or interest (writers' 协会, trade 协会). 学会 is a scholarly/academic society; 社团 is a campus or community club.

noun
associationsociety (organized group of people with a common interest or purpose)
Measure word · 个, 家

Examples

  • 协会。
    Tā jiā rù le zuò jiā xié huì.
    He joined the writers' association.
  • 协会。
    Zhè jiā xié huì yǒu wǔ bǎi duō míng huì yuán.
    This association has over five hundred members.
  • 协会。
    xié huì Měi nián dōu huì zǔ zhī yí cì jiāo liú huó dòng.
    The association organizes an exchange event every year.

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.

协xiéjoint
会huìorganization

The joint sense in 协 and the organization sense in 会 combine to mean a cooperative association.

Characters in this word

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 協; 协 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 協 uses 劦, meaning 'to collaborate', plus 十 for sound; the simplified 协 is a later shorthand.

Open 协 →

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Groups & Organizations5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.