TongTong
Sign in

贫民 (pín mín) — impoverished people; the poor

Definition

贫民 refers to the urban poor as a class — people living in poverty, often in city slums (贫民窟). Use it as a social/economic collective term, not as a polite synonym for individual poor people.

noun
impoverished peoplethe poor
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 贫民。
    Xǔ duō pín mín zhù zài chéng shì de biān yuán.
    Many poor people live on the outskirts of the city.
  • 贫民。
    Zhèng fǔ yīng gāi bāng zhù pín mín gǎi shàn shēng huó tiáo jiàn.
    The government should help the poor improve their living conditions.
  • 贫民。
    Zhè ge dì qū de pín mín shù liàng zài zēng jiā.
    The number of impoverished people in this area is increasing.

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.

贫pínpoor
民mínpeople

贫 'poor' describes 民 'people', giving poor people.

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 貧; 贫 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèimoney
Sound part声符shēngfú
分
分fēn貧pín
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 貧 has 分 above 貝, a money part. 分 gives the sound and means 'divide', giving the image of dividing one's money; the simplified 贫 is a later shorthand.

Open 贫 →

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

The early form of 民 shows an eye pierced by a sharp cross-shaped implement, possibly linked to an injured or unclear eye.

Open 民 →
Appears in
People (General)Society & Public Life

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.