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大公 (dà gōng) — grand duke (a noble title); impartiality; fairness (often in the sense of 大公无私)

Definition

Two senses: a noble title (Grand Duke), and, as in 大公无私, 'impartial' — showing no personal bias, in public conduct or judgment.

noun
grand duke (a noble title)impartialityfairness (often in the sense of 大公无私)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 大公。
    Lú sēn bǎo dà gōng shì ōu zhōu de yí wèi guó jiā yuán shǒu.
    The Grand Duke of Luxembourg is a head of state in Europe.
  • 大公，。
    Tā wèi rén dà gōng, cóng wú piān sī.
    He is impartial in his conduct, never showing favoritism.
  • 大公。
    Zhè wèi dà gōng tǒng zhì gāi gōng guó shù shí nián.
    This grand duke ruled the duchy for decades.

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
公gōngpublic

The ideas of 大 as great and 公 as public build a high rank or selfless fairness.

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.

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Open 公 →
Appears in
Abstract ConceptsIdentity & Titles

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