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客户 (kè hù) — client; customer

Definition

A 'client' or 'customer' you do business with — typically in B2B or service contexts. 比 顾客 more formal/business-focused; 客人 is a general guest or visitor, not necessarily a buyer; 用户 is for product/tech users.

noun
clientcustomer
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 客户。
    Wǒ men gōng sī yǒu hěn duō lǎo kè hù.
    Our company has many long-term clients.
  • 客户。
    Zhè wèi kè hù duì wǒ men de fú wù hěn mǎn yì.
    This customer is very satisfied with our service.
  • 客户。
    Qǐng bǎ xīn kè hù de xìn xī dēng jì yí xià.
    Please register the new customer's information.

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.

客kèclient
户hùhousehold

The client sense of 客 narrows the household or account sense of 户 to mean a customer.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè客kè
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 客, 宀 is a roof and 各 gives the sound; the character meant a guest.

Open 客 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 戶; 户 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 戶 is a picture of half of a gate. The simplified 户 is a later shorthand, so its shape should not be read as the original parts.

Open 户 →
Appears in
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