联署 (lián shǔ) — to co-sign, to jointly sign (a document, petition, or statement)

Definition

联署 means 'co-sign' — multiple people sign one document together to show shared support (petitions, open letters, agreements). It is NOT just 'sign' alone; the 联 stresses the joint, collective act.

verb
to co-signto jointly sign (a document, petition, or statement)

Examples

  • 联署。
    Zhè fèn qǐng yuàn shū yǐ jīng yǒu sān bǎi rén lián shǔ le.
    Three hundred people have already co-signed this petition.
  • 联署。
    Duō gè guó jiā de dài biǎo lián shǔ le zhè xiàng xié yì.
    Representatives from multiple countries jointly signed this agreement.
  • 联署。
    Tā men jué dìng lián shǔ yì fēng gōng kāi xìn biǎo dá bù mǎn.
    They decided to co-sign an open letter to express their dissatisfaction.

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.

联liánjointly
署shǔsign

联 adds the sense of joining, while 署 means signing.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聯; 联 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 聯 combines 耳 (ear) and 絲 (silk); 联 is a simplified form of 聯.

Open 联 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
罒Written in full as网wǎngnet
Sound part声符shēngfú
者
者zhě署shǔ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

署 shows a net 罒 for its meaning, and uses 者 to give its sound.

Open 署 →

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