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用户 (yòng hù) — user; consumer; customer

Definition

用户 specifically means 'user' of a product, service, or system (apps, platforms, utilities). Compare 客户 (business client) and 消费者 (consumer in an economic sense).

noun
userconsumercustomer
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 用户。
    Hěn duō yòng hù xǐ huan yòng zhè ge ruǎn jiàn.
    Many users like using this software.
  • 用户。
    Měi gè yòng hù dōu xū yào zhù cè yí gè zhàng hào.
    Every user needs to register an account.
  • 用户。
    Wǒ men de yòng hù shù liàng yǐ jīng chāo guò yì bǎi wàn le.
    Our user base has already exceeded one million.

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.

用yònguse
户hùhousehold

用 gives the sense of using, and 户 a household or account holder; together they mean a user.

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.

用 was formed by adding a handle to an earlier form.

Open 用 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 戶; 户 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 戶 is a picture of half of a gate. The simplified 户 is a later shorthand, so its shape should not be read as the original parts.

Open 户 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 6Business & CommerceComputers & Internet

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