贪官 (tān guān) — corrupt official

Definition

noun
corrupt official
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 贪官。
    Bǎi xìng zuì tòng hèn de jiù shì tān guān.
    What the people hate most are corrupt officials.
  • 贪官。
    Lì shǐ shàng měi gè cháo dài dōu yǒu bù shǎo tān guān.
    Every dynasty in history had many corrupt officials.
  • 贪官。
    Yán chéng tān guān shì zhèng fǔ de zhòng yào rèn wu.
    Severely punishing corrupt officials is an important task of the government.

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.

贪tāngreedy
官guānofficial

贪 (greedy) + 官 (official) -> an official greedy for gain.

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 貪; 贪 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèimoney
Sound part声符shēngfú
今
今jīn貪tān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 貪 places 今 (open mouth) above 貝 (money); 今 gives the sound, and 貝 relates to the meaning. 贪 is the simplified shorthand.

Open 贪 →

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

  • 宀宀mián
  • 𠂤𠂤𠂤

官 pairs 宀, a roof, with 𠂤, rooms beneath it, to depict an official building.

Open 官 →

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