TongTong
Sign in

法人 (fǎ rén) — legal person; corporate entity

Definition

A legal term for a 'legal person' — an organization (not an individual) that can hold rights, sign contracts, and be sued. It's the legal category that 公司, 企业, and 集团 all fall under.

noun
legal personcorporate entity
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 法人。
    Měi gè gōng sī dōu yǒu zì jǐ de fǎ rén dài biǎo.
    Every company has its own legal representative.
  • 法人。
    Zhè jiā xīn chéng lì de fǎ rén yǐ jīng zhù cè le.
    This newly established legal person has already been registered.
  • 法人。
    fǎ rén De quán yì shòu dào fǎ lǜ bǎo hù.
    The rights and interests of a legal person are protected by law.

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.

法fǎlaw
人rénperson

法 means law or legal, and 人 means person; together they name an entity treated as a person under law.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
廌廌zhìa type of antelope or caprid
Sound part声符shēngfú
盍
盍hé法fǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

法's older form combined 氵 (water) and 廌 (a type of antelope or caprid), with 盍 as a sound part; later 廌 was dropped.

Open 法 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Business & CommerceLaw & Justice

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.