Definitions
(noun)
people; citizens; inhabitants
Etymology
Pictograph of an eye (目) being poked with something sharp. In ancient China, slaves were sometimes punished by blinding them with a sharp object. Based on the original meaning "slave". The meaning later shifted to "common person".
About
民 is a pictograph of an eye (目) with a stroke piercing it, representing blinding with a sharp instrument , a punishment inflicted on slaves and captives in ancient China to mark them and prevent escape. Its original meaning was thus "slave". Gradually, as the boundaries between enslaved dependents and ordinary subjects blurred, the character's reference broadened to mean "common person", then the populace under a ruler, and eventually citizens in general. This shift reflects the fading of rigid class distinctions. In modern Chinese, 民 appears widely in civic and national terms, such as 人民 (people), 民族 (ethnic group), and 民主 (democracy), entirely disconnected from its brutal origin.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
我们是中国人民。
农民在田里工作。
市民们热爱这座城市。
民主制度保障公民权利。
少数民族文化丰富多彩。
民生问题是政府的首要任务。
国民素质决定国家未来。
民营企业是市场经济的重要部分。
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