同事 (tóng shì) — colleague, coworker | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A 同事 is someone you work with at the same company or organization — 'colleague.' Among 同- words, 同学 is a classmate, 同伴 a general companion, and 同事 specifically a coworker.

noun

colleaguecoworker

Measure word · 个, 位

Examples

同事。
Wǒ men gōng sī yǒu sān shí gè tóng shì.
Our company has thirty colleagues.
同事。
Wǒ de tóng shì jīn tiān méi yǒu lái shàng bān.
My colleague didn't come to work today.
同事。
Zhè wèi tóng shì shì wǒ de hǎo péng you.
This colleague is my good friend.

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.

事shìwork or affairs

同 means same and 事 means work or affairs, so 同事 are people in the same job.

Characters in this word

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

同 originally drew a pipe. It is the old form of 筒.

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

又又yòuhand
中中zhōnga flagpole with a drum

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 3 HSK 2.0 Level 3 Workplace & Office 2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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