黑户 (hēi hù) — unregistered resident (esp. without legal household registration); unlicensed or illegal business; person engaged in prohibited or underground activities

Definition

A colloquial label for people or businesses with no legal registration — unregistered migrants, unlicensed shops, or those in illicit activity. The 三 example illustrates the underground-activity sense; the others show the 'no 户口 / no 营业执照' sense.

noun
unregistered resident (esp. without legal household registration)unlicensed or illegal businessperson engaged in prohibited or underground activities

Examples

  • 黑户，。
    Zhè zuò chéng shì lǐ yǒu hěn duō hēi hù, tā men wú fǎ xiǎng shòu gōng gòng fú wù.
    There are many unregistered residents in this city, and they cannot enjoy public services.
  • 黑户，。
    Nà jiā diàn shì hēi hù, méi yǒu yíng yè zhí zhào.
    That shop is an illegal business; it has no business license.
  • 黑户。
    Jǐng fāng zhuā zhù le jǐ gè cóng shì fēi fǎ huó dòng de hēi hù.
    The police caught several black household residents engaged in illegal activities.

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.

黑hēiillegal or unregistered
户hùhousehold

黑 gives illegal or unregistered, 户 gives household; together they mean an unregistered resident or business.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 黑 seems to come from drawing a head marked with dots, usually read as facial tattoos.

Open 黑 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 戶; 户 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 戶 is a picture of half of a gate. The simplified 户 is a later shorthand, so its shape should not be read as the original parts.

Open 户 →

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