工作组 (gōng zuò zǔ) — work team; task force; working group

Definition

noun
work teamtask forceworking group
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 工作组。
    Zhè ge gōng zuò zǔ fù zé diào chá shì gù yuán yīn.
    This working group is responsible for investigating the cause of the accident.
  • 工作组。
    Gōng sī chéng lì le yí gè tè bié gōng zuò zǔ lái chǔ lǐ zhè ge wèn tí.
    The company set up a special task force to handle this problem.
  • 工作组。
    gōng zuò zǔ Yǐ jīng wán chéng le dì yī jiē duàn de rèn wu.
    The working group has completed the first phase of tasks.

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.

工作work; labor
工gōngwork; labor作zuòwork; do
联合Side by side
组zǔgroup

工作 means work or labor, and 组 means a group, so the word is a group formed for work.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà作zuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

Open 作 →

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 組; 组 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìsilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
且
且qiě組zǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 組 pairs 糸 (silk) with 且 as a sound part; the simplified 组 is a shorthand.

Open 组 →
Appears in
Groups & OrganizationsWorkplace & Office

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