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国民 (guó mín) — (noun) national, citizen; the people of a country

Definition

国民 refers to the people of a country as a collective — 'the citizenry' — often in formal/written contexts like 国民经济 or 全体国民. Contrast with 公民 (legal/political sense, an individual citizen with rights) and 民众 (the common masses).

noun
nationalcitizenthe people of a country
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 国民。
    guó mín Jīng jì de fā zhǎn duì zhěng gè guó jiā dōu hěn zhòng yào.
    The development of the national economy is important for the whole country.
  • 国民。
    Tí gāo guó mín sù zhì shì jiào yù de gēn běn mù biāo.
    Raising the quality of citizens is the fundamental goal of education.
  • 国民。
    Quán tǐ guó mín dōu yǒu quán lì cān yù guó jiā jiàn shè.
    All nationals have the right to participate in national construction.

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.

国guócountry
民mínpeople

国 and 民 together mean the people belonging to a country.

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →

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

The early form of 民 shows an eye pierced by a sharp cross-shaped implement, possibly linked to an injured or unclear eye.

Open 民 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Rights & Citizenship

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