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董事长 (dǒng shì zhǎng) — chairman of the board of directors

Definition

The head of a company's 董事会 (board of directors), not a political/organizational role — contrast with 主席 (chair of a meeting/organization) and 总裁 (CEO who runs daily operations).

noun
chairman of the board of directors
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 董事长。
    Wǒ men gōng sī de dǒng shì zhǎng fēi cháng zhòng shì yán fā.
    Our company's chairman attaches great importance to R&D.
  • 董事长。
    Zhè wèi dǒng shì zhǎng yǐ jīng lián rèn liǎng jiè le.
    This chairman has been re-elected for two terms.
  • 董事长。
    dǒng shì zhǎng Zài dǒng shì huì shàng tí chū le xīn de fā zhǎn jì huà.
    The chairman proposed a new development plan at the board meeting.

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.

董事director
董dǒngsupervise事shìaffairs
动宾Verb + object
长chángchief

董事 (directors) plus 长 (chief) means the chief of the directors.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艸艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
重
重zhòng董dǒng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

董 is made of 艸 (grass) and 重, which is used for the sound.

Open 董 →

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

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

Open 长 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Professions & Jobs

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