市民 (shì mín) — city resident | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A resident of a city (municipal level). 居民 is broader, covering any inhabitant including rural areas; 公民 is a legal/political citizen of a country.

noun

city resident

Measure word · 位

Examples

市民。
Hěn duō shì mín dōu guān xīn chéng shì de huán jìng wèn tí.
Many city residents care about urban environmental issues.
市民。
shì mín Kě yǐ tóu piào xuǎn jǔ zì jǐ de dài biǎo.
City residents can vote to elect their own representatives.
市民。
Zhè wèi shì mín měi tiān zuò dì tiě shàng bān.
This city resident takes the subway to work every day.

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.

市 city plus 民 people means people living in a city.

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

兮兮xībustling

Sound part声符shēngfú

之

之zhī市shì

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The old form 市 pairs 兮, meaning bustling, with 之, the sound part.

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

The early form of 民 shows an eye pierced by a sharp cross-shaped implement, possibly linked to an injured or unclear eye.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 City & Urban 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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