爱国人士 (ài guó rén shì) — patriotic figure, patriot (formal)

Definition

noun
patriotic figurepatriot (formal)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 爱国人士。
    Tā shì yí wèi zhù míng de ài guó rén shì.
    He is a famous patriotic figure.
  • 爱国人士。
    Xǔ duō ài guó rén shì chū xí le huì yì.
    Many patriotic figures attended the meeting.
  • 爱国人士。
    Zhè wèi ài guó rén shì wèi guó jiā de jiàn shè zuò chū le jù dà gòng xiàn.
    This patriotic figure made great contributions to the construction of the country.

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.

爱国love the country
爱àilove国guócountry
动宾Verb + object
人士personage
人rénperson士shìpersonage
联合Side by side

爱 means love, 国 means country, 人 means person, and 士 means personage: a personage who loves the country.

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 愛; 爱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
旡
旡jì愛ài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For the traditional form 愛, an older shape paired 心 (heart) with 旡 as its sound part; later a foot-like 夊 was added below. The simplified 爱 is a later variant that replaces the lower part with 友.

Open 爱 →

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →

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 →

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

The shape 士 comes from a simple drawing of a war axe. The character later came to mean a soldier, officer, or intellectual.

Open 士 →

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