观众 (guān zhòng) — audience; spectators; visitors (to an exhibitio… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

观众 is the audience watching a visual event (sports, films, performances). Use 听众 for listeners at a talk, concert, or radio show.

noun

audiencespectatorsvisitors (to an exhibition)

Measure word · 位

Examples

观众。
Diàn yǐng yuàn de guān zhòng hěn duō.
There are many audience members in the cinema.
，观众。
Bǐ sài shí, guān zhòng dōu zài wèi yùn dòng yuán jiā yóu.
During the competition, the audience was cheering for the athletes.
观众。
Zhè chǎng biǎo yǎn xī yǐn le hěn duō guān zhòng.
This performance attracted a large audience.

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.

观 is watching and 众 is a crowd, so it means the crowd that watches.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 觀; 观 is its simplified writing.

雚見觀

Meaning part形符xíngfú

見見jiànsee

Sound part声符shēngfú

雚

雚guàn觀guān

Same sound today

The traditional form 觀 uses 見 (see) for meaning and 雚 for sound.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 眾; 众 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 眾 shows three people under a sun-like shape, meaning a crowd gathered under the sun; the simplified 众 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

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