失主 (shī zhǔ) — owner of lost property

Definition

noun
owner of lost property
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 失主。
    Jǐng chá zhèng zài xún zhǎo shī zhǔ.
    The police are looking for the owner of the lost property.
  • 失主。
    shī zhǔ Yǐ jīng lái pài chū suǒ rèn lǐng le.
    The owner has already come to the police station to claim it.
  • 失主。
    Qǐng shī zhǔ jǐn kuài yǔ shī wù zhāo lǐng chù lián xì.
    Please contact the lost-and-found office as soon as possible.

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.

失shīlost
主zhǔowner

失 means lost, 主 means owner, so the word names the owner of something lost.

Characters in this word

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

The shape is explained as a fallen person's footprint surrounded by drops of blood; another reading pairs 手 (hand) and 乙 to show something falling from a hand.

Open 失 →

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

The old forms that became 主 showed a lamp or torch with a flame at the top; other forms showed wood on fire or a spirit tablet.

Open 主 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.