漆工 (qī gōng) — lacquer work, painting (as a craft); lacquer worker, painter, varnisher

Definition

漆工 (qī gōng) is an old-fashioned / craft-specific term for a lacquer worker — someone who applies lacquer — and the work itself. Rare in modern daily use; mostly seen in traditional craft contexts.

noun
lacquer workpainting (as a craft)lacquer workerpaintervarnisher
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 漆工，。
    Tā shì yì míng yōu xiù de qī gōng, shàn cháng chuán tǒng qī qì gōng yì.
    He is an excellent lacquer worker, skilled in traditional lacquerware techniques.
  • 漆工。
    Zhè jiàn jiā jù de qī gōng zuò dé fēi cháng jīng xì.
    The lacquer work on this piece of furniture is very fine.
  • 漆工。
    Gǔ dài qī gōng shǐ yòng de gōng jù hé xiàn dài hěn bù yí yàng.
    The tools used by ancient lacquer workers are very different from modern ones.

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.

漆qīlacquer
工gōngworker

漆 means lacquer and 工 means worker or work, together a lacquer worker.

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
桼
桼qī漆qī
Same sound today

漆 adds 水 (water) to 桼 (resin used to make varnish), which was the earlier form of the word.

Open 漆 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

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