流浪汉 (liú làng hàn) — homeless person; vagrant; tramp

Definition

noun
homeless personvagranttramp
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 流浪汉
    Nà ge liú làng hàn zài gōng yuán de cháng yǐ shàng guò yè.
    That homeless person spent the night on a park bench.
  • 流浪汉
    Dōng tiān dào le, hěn duō liú làng hàn xū yào bǎo nuǎn de yī wù.
    Winter has come; many homeless people need warm clothing.
  • 流浪汉
    Shè qū zhì yuàn zhě gěi liú làng hàn sòng qù le shí wù hé tǎn zi.
    Community volunteers brought food and blankets to the homeless people.

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.

流浪wander
liúdriftlàngwander
联合Coordinate

流浪 means wander, and it describes a 汉 man, giving vagrant.

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
shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
liú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

流 has 水, water, and 㐬, which gives the sound. The water part matches meanings such as flow.

Open 流 →

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
Sound part声符shēngfú
liánglàng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

浪 pairs 水 (water) with 良, which supplies the sound. The water part points to its meaning of waves.

Open 浪 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 汉 →

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