私人 (sī rén) — (attributive noun) private; personal; (noun) a… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

私人 (sīrén) covers both senses: as an attributive noun it means 'private/personal' (私人财产, 私人空间); as a standalone noun it means a close confidant. Use 个人 for neutral 'individual/personal', 隐私 for 'privacy' as a concept.

noun

(attributive noun) privatepersonala close associatea confidant

Examples

私人，。
Zhè shì wǒ de sī rén cái chǎn, nǐ bù néng ná zǒu.
This is my private property; you can't take it away.
私人。
Měi gè rén dōu yǒu zì jǐ de sī rén kōng jiān.
Everyone has their own personal space.
私人，。
Tā shì lǎo bǎn de sī rén, suǒ yǐ dà jiā dōu hěn zūn zhòng tā.
He is the boss's confidant, so everyone respects him.

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.

私sīprivate

私 means private and 人 means person, together indicating a close associate or personal dealings.

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.

禾厶私

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

厶

厶sī私sī

Same sound today

私 combines 禾 and 厶; 厶 originally represented the word, and 禾 was added later.

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.

Appears in

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