身份 (shēn fèn) — identity; role or capacity; social or legal sta… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

身份 is who you ARE socially or legally (身份, ID, social status). 角色 is the role you PLAY in a story or situation; 职能 is the official function of a job or organization.

noun

identityrole or capacitysocial or legal status

Examples

。
Qǐng chū shì nǐ de shēn fèn zhèng.
Please show your ID card.
身份。
Tā yǐ lǎo shī de shēn fèn cān jiā le huì yì.
He attended the meeting in the capacity of a teacher.
身份。
Tā de shè huì shēn fèn hěn gāo.
Her social status is very high.

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.

身 is body or self, and 份 is share or role, so it names a person's role or status.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 身 comes from a drawing of a pregnant woman.

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

亻分份

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

分

分fēn份fèn(r)

Same sound today

份 is built from 亻, the person form written in full as 人, and 分, which gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Identity & Titles Social Roles & Status 2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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