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

Definition

noun

homeless personvagranttramp

Measure word · 个

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.

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

联合Side by side

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

㐬

㐬㐬流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.

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

良

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.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in