家政 (jiā zhèng) — housekeeping; domestic service | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

家政 refers to housekeeping as a profession or service (e.g. 家政公司, 家政行业). Compare 家务, the chores you do yourself at home.

noun

housekeepingdomestic service

Measure word · 个

Examples

家政。
Wǒ zài wǎng shàng zhǎo dào le yì jiā jiā zhèng gōng sī.
I found a housekeeping company online.
，家政。
Suí zhe shè huì fā zhǎn, jiā zhèng háng yè yuè lái yuè shòu huān yíng.
As society develops, the housekeeping industry becomes more and more popular.
家政。
Tā de zhuān yè shì jiā zhèng guǎn lǐ.
Her major is household management.

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.

政zhèngaffairs

The senses of 家 as home and 政 as affairs combine to mean household management.

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.

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

攴攴pūaction

Sound part声符shēngfú

正

正zhèng政zhèng

Same sound today

政 combines 正, which gives the sound, with 攴, an action-related part.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Cleaning & Chores

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