社工 (shè gōng) — social worker

Definition

社工 is the everyday short form of 社会工作者, the professional term for 'social worker.' It refers specifically to someone trained to help people with social welfare issues (e.g., community services, family support).

noun
social worker
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 社工。
    Zhè wèi shè gōng bāng le wǒ hěn duō máng.
    This social worker helped me a lot.
  • 社工。
    shè gōng De gōng zuò fēi cháng zhòng yào.
    The work of social workers is very important.
  • 社工。
    Tā dà xué bì yè hòu chéng le yì míng shè gōng.
    After graduating from university, she became a social worker.

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.

社shèsociety
工gōngworker

Combines 社 (society) with 工 (worker), naming a worker in social services.

Characters in this word

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.

Open 社 →

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 →

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