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见证人 (jiàn zhèng rén) — witness

Definition

noun
witness
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 见证人。
    Tā zuò wéi jiàn zhèng rén zài hé tong shàng qiān le zì.
    He signed the contract as a witness.
  • 见证人。
    Fǎ tíng xū yào yí wèi jiàn zhèng rén lái zhèng míng dāng shí de qíng kuàng.
    The court needs a witness to prove the situation at that time.
  • 见证人。
    Zhè wèi lǎo rén shì nà chǎng lì shǐ shì jiàn de wéi yī jiàn zhèng rén.
    This old man is the only witness of that historical event.

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.

见证witness
见jiànsee证zhèngprove
联合Coordinate
人rénperson

见 means see and 证 means prove, giving witnessing, while 人 is a person: a person who sees and proves.

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 見; 见 is its simplified writing.

  • 目目mùeye
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The traditional form 見 pairs 目 (eye) with 卩 (kneeling person), showing a kneeling figure with a large eye for a head. The simplified 见 is a later shorthand.

Open 见 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 證; 证 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
登
登dēng證zhèng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 證 pairs 言, a words/speech part, with 登 as a sound clue; the simplified 证 is a later shorthand.

Open 证 →

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.

Open 人 →
Appears in
Law & Justice

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