外族 (wài zú) — people not of the same clan; outsider (in a kinship context); foreigner; alien; other nationality or ethnic group

Definition

Literally 'outer clan' — an 'outsider' to one's own lineage, extended to mean 'foreign people / other ethnic group.' Connotes a group seen as outside one's kinship or cultural boundary, more distant than 外国人 (simply 'foreigner').

noun
people not of the same clanoutsider (in a kinship context)foreigneralienother nationality or ethnic group
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，外族。
    Zài gǔ dài, wài zú bù néng cān jiā běn zú de jì sì.
    In ancient times, outsiders could not participate in the clan's sacrificial rites.
  • 外族。
    Zhè ge bù luò hěn shǎo yǔ wài zú tōng hūn.
    This tribe rarely intermarried with outsiders.
  • ，外族。
    Lì shǐ shàng, wài zú rù qīn cháng cháng dǎo zhì zhàn zhēng.
    Historically, invasions by foreign tribes often led to war.

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.

外wàioutside
族zúclan

外 means outside, and 族 means clan or people; together they point to people outside one's own group.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
卜卜bǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
月
月yuè外wài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

外 pairs 卜 with 月, a crescent moon; in its older form, the 卜 part had a horizontal bar extending outward, giving the sense of outside.

Open 外 →

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

族 combines 㫃, a flag, and 矢, an arrow.

Open 族 →

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