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起家 (qǐ jiā) — to build up (a fortune, reputation, etc.) from scratch; to start out in a career; the beginning of one's success; origins of a fortune/career

Definition

起家 means to build a career or fortune from nothing, almost always paired with 白手 ('white-handed') to stress having no resources to start. It focuses on the humble ORIGINS of later success, not success itself.

verb
to build up (a fortune, reputation, etc.) from scratchto start out in a careerthe beginning of one's successorigins of a fortune/career

Examples

  • 。
    Tā kào mài cài qǐ le jiā.
    He started his career by selling vegetables.
  • 。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī shì bái shǒu qǐ jiā de.
    This company was started from scratch.
  • 。
    Hěn duō chéng gōng rén shì dōu shì bái shǒu qǐ jiā de.
    Many successful people started from scratch.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

起qǐstart
家jiāhousehold

起 means start or raise and 家 means household, so 起家 is to start a household and build up success.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
走走zǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
巳
巳sì起qǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

起 is made from 走 and 巳: 走 is the part connected with walking or running, and 巳 gives the sound.

Open 起 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →
Appears in
Business & Commerce

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