手下人 (shǒu xià rén) — subordinate; servant

Definition

手下人 literally means 'people under one's hand' and covers both subordinates (at work) and servants (at home). The example sentence shows it can be used for either context — no separate word is needed.

noun
subordinateservant

Examples

  • 手下人。
    Wǒ de shǒu xià rén dōu hěn néng gàn.
    My subordinates are all very capable.
  • 手下人。
    Tā men jiā yǒu hěn duō shǒu xià rén cì hou.
    Their family has many servants to wait on them.
  • 手下人。
    Tā mìng lìng shǒu xià rén qù bàn zhè jiàn shì.
    He ordered his subordinates to handle this matter.

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.

手下under someone's command
手shǒuhand下xiàbelow
偏正Modifier + head
人rénperson

The 手 and 下 give 'under someone's hand', and 人 is the person under that command.

Characters in this word

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

Open 下 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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