工长 (gōng cháng) — foreman, section chief (on a construction site…

Definition

noun

foremansection chief (on a construction site or in a factory)

Measure word · 个

Easily confused

工长。
gōng cháng Zhèng zài jiǎn chá jīn tiān de shī gōng jìn dù.
The foreman is checking today's construction progress.
工长。
Yǒu wèn tí kě yǐ zhí jiē zhǎo gōng cháng fǎn yìng.
If there's a problem, you can report it directly to the section chief.
工长。
Zhè wèi gōng cháng zài gōng chǎng gān le èr shí nián le.
This foreman has worked at the factory for twenty years.

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 gives the sense of workers, and 长 gives the sense of chief, forming a chief over a group of workers.

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.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.