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社 (shè) — (bound form) society, organization, agency (used in many compounds); (historical) god of the land

Definition

社 is a bound morpheme meaning 'society/organization', seen in compounds like 出版社 ('publishing house') and 社团 ('club/association'). The historical sense 'god of the land' appears only in classical texts like 社稷.

bound form
societyorganizationagency (used in many compounds)
noun
(historical) god of the land
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 。
    Zhè jiā chū bǎn shè chū bǎn le zuì xīn de kē xué zá zhì.
    This publishing house published the latest science magazine.
  • 。
    Tā cān jiā le yí gè zhì yuàn zhě shè tuán.
    He joined a volunteer club.
  • ，社稷。
    Zài gǔ dài, jì sì shè jì shì fēi cháng zhòng yào de yí shì.
    In ancient times, offering sacrifices to the gods of land and grain was a very important ceremony.

Origin

Compound ideograph
六书liùshū
会意huìyì

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

社 joins 示 (god; deity) and 土 (soil), so its shape is about the god of the land.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Groups & Organizations

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