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教廷 (jiào tíng) — the Vatican; the Holy See

Definition

Refers to the Vatican / Holy See as an institution — the seat of the Pope and the central governing body of the Roman Catholic Church, used in formal and political contexts.

noun
the Vaticanthe Holy See

Examples

  • 教廷。
    jiào tíng Shì luó mǎ tiān zhǔ jiào huì de zuì gāo lǐng dǎo jī gòu.
    The Holy See is the highest governing body of the Roman Catholic Church.
  • 教廷。
    Tā jīn nián xià tiān jì huà qù jiào tíng cān guān.
    He plans to visit the Vatican this summer.
  • 。
    Zhè wèi wài jiāo guān céng zài jiào tíng rèn zhí duō nián.
    This diplomat served at the Holy See for many years.

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.

教jiàochurch
廷tíngcourt

教 refers to the church and 廷 to a court, together naming the governing court of the church.

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
子子zǐchild
攵Written in full as攴pūteaching cane; stick that represents authority
Sound part声符shēngfú
爻
爻yáo教jiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

教 uses 爻 for its sound and puts 子 (child) with 攵 (攴), a teaching cane, to show teaching a child.

Open 教 →

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
廴廴yǐn
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡈼
𡈼𡈼廷tíng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

廷 is built from 廴, a meaning part, and 𡈼, a sound part.

Open 廷 →
Appears in
Government & PoliticsReligion & Belief

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