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大权 (dà quán) — great power, authority

Definition

Refers to the supreme decision-making power held by a person in an organization, government, or family. It almost always appears in set phrases like 掌握大权 or 大权在握, not standing alone.

noun
great powerauthority

Examples

  • 大权。
    Tā zhǎng wò le gōng sī de dà quán.
    He holds the company's great power.
  • 大权。
    Zhè wèi lǐng dǎo yōng yǒu zhì gāo wú shàng de dà quán.
    This leader possesses supreme authority.
  • ，大权。
    Zài gǎi gé zhōng, dà quán yīng gāi shòu dào jiān dū.
    In reforms, great power should be supervised.

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
权quánpower

Combining 大 as great with 权 as power gives great authority.

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 →

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 權; 权 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn權quán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 權 shows 木, a tree, with 雚 giving the sound; it named a kind of tree and was used for a standard weight. The simplified 权 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 权 →
Appears in
Government & PoliticsManagement

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