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家世 (jiā shì) — family background

Definition

Refers to the social status and reputation of one's family (esp. historically, or in a literary register). 出身 is a broader, more common word for origin/background; 家境 focuses specifically on financial situation.

noun
family background

Examples

  • 家世，。
    Tā de jiā shì hěn hǎo, cóng xiǎo shòu dào liáng hǎo jiào yù.
    His family background is very good; he received a good education from childhood.
  • 家世。
    Yí gè rén de jiā shì bìng bù néng jué dìng tā de wèi lái.
    A person's family background does not determine his future.
  • 家世。
    Tā cóng bù tán lùn zì jǐ de jiā shì.
    She never talks about her own family background.

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.

家jiāfamily
世shìlineage

家 is family, and 世 is generations or lineage, so the whole means family background.

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
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 世 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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