行人 (xíng rén) — pedestrian, passer-by | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

行人 means 'pedestrian' (people walking on the street). It focuses on the role in traffic contexts, whereas 路人 is a more general 'passer-by / stranger' and is often used figuratively to mean a person uninvolved in events.

noun

pedestrianpasser-by

Measure word · 个

Examples

行人。
Zǎo shàng jiē shàng de xíng rén bù duō.
There aren't many pedestrians on the street in the morning.
行人。
xíng rén Qǐng zǒu bān mǎ xiàn.
Pedestrians, please use the crosswalk.
行人。
Tā shì yì míng pǔ tōng de xíng rén.
He is an ordinary pedestrian.

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.

The idea of walking is joined with person to name someone who travels on foot.

Characters in this word

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

彳亍行

彳彳chì
亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

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

HSK 3.0 Level 5 HSK 2.0 Level 5 People (General)

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