旗手 (qí shǒu) — standard-bearer, leader (figurative, of a movement or cause); flagman, flag bearer (literal)

Definition

A literal 'flag bearer' in parades; figuratively, the leading champion of a movement or cause. The figurative sense is more common in HSK 7 reading than the literal one.

noun
standard-bearerleader (figurative, of a movement or cause)flagmanflag bearer (literal)
Measure word · 位
Easily confused

Examples

  • 旗手。
    Tā yì zhí shì kē jì chuàng xīn de qí shǒu.
    He has always been a standard-bearer for technological innovation.
  • ，旗手。
    Mín guó chū nián, xǔ duō zhī shi fèn zǐ chōng dāng le sī xiǎng qǐ méng de qí shǒu.
    In the early Republic, many intellectuals served as standard-bearers for ideological enlightenment.
  • 旗手。
    Zhè lǐ de yóu xíng duì wu xū yào yì míng qí shǒu.
    The parade here needs a flagman.

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.

旗qíflag
手shǒuperson

旗 names the flag, and 手 names the person who holds it, giving the sense of standard-bearer.

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
㫃㫃㫃flag
Sound part声符shēngfú
其
其qí旗qí
Same sound today

旗 pairs 㫃, a flag, with 其, which gives the pronunciation qí.

Open 旗 →

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 →

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