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官员 (guān yuán) — official; government official

Definition

官员 refers specifically to officials of a government or major organization — broader and more formal than 公务员 (civil servant, a rank-and-file government employee). Use 官员 for senior or political officials, not private-sector staff like 职员.

noun
officialgovernment official
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 官员。
    Zhè wèi guān yuán fù zé jiào yù zhèng cè.
    This official is in charge of education policy.
  • 官员。
    Gōng sī gāo céng guān yuán chū xí le qiān yuē yí shì.
    Senior officials of the company attended the signing ceremony.
  • 官员。
    Lián hé guó guān yuán hū yù gè guó jiā qiáng hé zuò.
    UN officials called on all countries to strengthen cooperation.

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.

官guānofficial
员yuánmember

官 (official) and 员 (member) together mean an official person.

Characters in this word

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

  • 宀宀mián
  • 𠂤𠂤𠂤

官 pairs 宀, a roof, with 𠂤, rooms beneath it, to depict an official building.

Open 官 →

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 員; 员 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
鼎鼎dǐngding
Sound part声符shēngfú
〇
〇líng員yuán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 員, 〇 supplies the sound and 鼎 supplies the meaning; the simplified 员 is a shortened form.

Open 员 →
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