零工 (líng gōng) — odd job; short-term hired labor; casual laborer | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

odd jobshort-term hired laborcasual laborer

Measure word · 个

Examples

。
Tā shǔ jià zài gōng dì dǎ líng gōng.
He worked odd jobs at a construction site during summer break.
零工。
Hěn duō xué shēng kào zuò líng gōng zhuàn shēng huó fèi.
Many students earn living expenses by doing odd jobs.
零工，。
Tā zhī zhǎo líng gōng, bú yuàn yì zuò quán zhí gōng zuò.
He only looks for odd jobs, unwilling to do full-time work.

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.

零 means odd or fractional and 工 means work, so an odd job.

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.

雨令零

Meaning part形符xíngfú

雨雨yǔrain

Sound part声符shēngfú

令

令lìng零líng

Same sound today

In 零, the 雨 part depicts thick raindrops falling from the sky; the 令 part gives the sound.

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Appears in

Professions & Jobs

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