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嘱托 (zhǔ tuō) — to entrust (a task or responsibility) to someone

Definition

嘱托 means to entrust a task or responsibility to someone, with a sense of earnest, personal charge from a trusted party. More serious than 拜托 (a casual favor request) and more weighty than 委托 (general commission).

verb
to entrust (a task or responsibility) to someone

Examples

  • 嘱托。
    Tā zhǔ tuō wǒ zhào gù hǎo tā de māo.
    He entrusted me with taking good care of his cat.
  • 嘱托。
    Zhè jiàn shì wǒ yǐ jīng zhǔ tuō gěi mì shū le.
    This matter has already to the secretary.
  • 嘱托。
    Fù mǔ zhǔ tuō wǒ men yào hù xiāng zhào gù.
    Our parents entrusted us with looking after each other.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

嘱zhǔentrust
托tuōentrust

Both 嘱 and 托 mean to entrust, so together they express giving a task to someone.

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 囑; 嘱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
屬
屬shǔ囑zhǔ
Same sound today

The traditional form 囑 pairs 口 (mouth) with 屬 as a sound part. The simplified 嘱 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 嘱 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
乇
乇tuō托tuō
Same sound today

托 is built from 手 (hand) and 乇, which gives the sound tuō.

Open 托 →

Grammar

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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