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学长 (xué cháng) — senior male student (at the same school); upperclassman

Definition

学长 refers to a male upperclassman at the same school, used by juniors (especially new students) to address or refer to senior male students. 学姐 is the female counterpart.

noun
senior male student (at the same school)upperclassman
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 学长。
    Zhè wèi xué cháng shì wǒ men xué xiào de xué shēng huì zhǔ xí.
    This senior student is the president of our school's student union.
  • ，学长。
    Wǒ gāng jìn dà xué de shí hou, xué cháng gěi le wǒ hěn duō bāng zhù.
    When I first entered university, the senior student gave me a lot of help.
  • 学长，？
    Qǐng wèn xué cháng, tú shū guǎn zěn me zǒu?
    Excuse me, senior, how do I get to the library?

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.

学xuéschool
长chángsenior

学 relates to school and 长 means senior, so 学长 is an upperclassman.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

Open 学 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

Open 长 →
Appears in
School & EducationSocial Roles & Status

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