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大众 (dà zhòng) — the masses, the general public; (attributive) popular, mass- (e.g. 大众音乐 popular music, 大众科学 popular science)

Definition

大众 means 'the masses / popular' and usually pairs with another noun as an attributive (大众文化, 大众媒体). 比 群众 more neutral and commercial; 民间 contrasts with the official sphere; 公众 stresses the public as a collective group.

noun
the massesthe general public(attributive) popularmass- (e.g. 大众音乐 popular music, 大众科学 popular science)

Examples

  • 大众。
    dà zhòng Duì zhè ge wèn tí yǒu bù tóng de kàn fǎ.
    The public has different views on this issue.
  • 大众。
    Tā xǐ huan tīng dà zhòng yīn yuè.
    He likes listening to popular music.
  • 大众。
    dà zhòng Méi tǐ duì shè huì yǐng xiǎng hěn dà.
    Mass media has a big influence on society.

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.

大dàgreat
众zhòngcrowd

大 contributes great and 众 contributes crowd, so the whole means the great crowd.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 眾; 众 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 眾 shows three people under a sun-like shape, meaning a crowd gathered under the sun; the simplified 众 is a later shorthand.

Open 众 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Society & Public Life5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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