TongTong
Sign in

家居 (jiā jū) — home, household (used in compound nouns for home-related items and design)

Definition

家居 refers to the home as a physical environment and lifestyle, used in compound nouns for furniture, décor, and design (家居用品, 家居风格) — not the people. Contrast with 家庭 (family/household) and 家园 (home with emotional attachment).

noun
homehousehold (used in compound nouns for home-related items and design)

Examples

  • 家居。
    Zhè jiā diàn de jiā jū yòng pǐn zhì liàng hěn hǎo.
    The household items at this store are of good quality.
  • 家居。
    Wǒ xǐ huan jiǎn yuē de jiā jū fēng gé.
    I like a minimalist home style.
  • 家居。
    Zuì jìn jiā jū háng yè de fā zhǎn hěn kuài.
    The home industry has been developing rapidly recently.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

家jiāhome
居jūdwelling

Both 家 and 居 point to home or dwelling, giving the sense of home.

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 →

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
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ居jū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

居 is built from 尸 as the meaning part and 古 (gǔ) as the sound part.

Open 居 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Home & Housing

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.