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慈善家 (cí shàn jiā) — philanthropist

Definition

noun
philanthropist
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 慈善家。
    Zhè wèi cí shàn jiā juān le hěn duō qián gěi xué xiào.
    This philanthropist donated a lot of money to the school.
  • 慈善家，。
    Tā shì yí wèi zhù míng de cí shàn jiā, zhì lì yú huán bǎo shì yè.
    He is a famous philanthropist dedicated to environmental protection.
  • 慈善家。
    Xǔ duō cí shàn jiā dōu guān zhù pín kùn dì qū de jiào yù wèn tí.
    Many philanthropists pay attention to education issues in poor areas.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

慈善kindness
慈cíkind善shàngood
联合Coordinate
家jiāsuffix

慈 and 善 express kindness, and 家 names a person devoted to it.

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
茲
茲zī慈cí
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

慈 has 心 (heart) below 茲, which gives its sound; the heart shows the character relates to feelings such as kindness and love.

Open 慈 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

An earlier form of 善 joined 羊, a sheep linked with goodness or beauty, and 誩, described as a wrangle; the reference says this meaning link is hard to understand.

Open 善 →

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 →
Appears in
Professions & Jobs

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