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权利 (quán lì) — right (legal or moral entitlement)

Definition

A legal or moral entitlement belonging to a person (e.g. human rights, voting rights). Pairs with 权力 (power held by a state/office-holder) — they look alike but mean opposite things: 权利 is the right you HAVE, 权力 is the power someone HOLDS over you.

noun
right (legal or moral entitlement)
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 权利。
    Měi gè rén dōu yǒu píng děng de quán lì.
    Everyone has equal rights.
  • 权利。
    Fǎ lǜ bǎo zhàng gōng mín de quán lì.
    The law protects citizens' rights.
  • 权利。
    Wǒ men yào xué huì wéi hù zì jǐ de quán lì.
    We need to learn to defend our own rights.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

权quánpower
利lìbenefit

权 'power' and 利 'benefit' combine to name an entitled claim.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 權; 权 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn權quán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 權 shows 木, a tree, with 雚 giving the sound; it named a kind of tree and was used for a standard weight. The simplified 权 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 权 →

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

利 combines 禾 (grain) and 刀 (knife), showing a knife used to cut grain.

Open 利 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Rights & Citizenship2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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