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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

國家

guójiā
country (with sovereignty); nation; (nation-)state (Classifier: 個／个)
  • TOCFL 2
  • 国家

Etymology graph

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Origin

In ancient China, the fief of a 諸侯／诸侯 (zhūhóu) was known as a 國／国 (guó), while the fief of a 大夫 (dàfū) was known as a 家 (jiā). The two characters are also attestable in pre-Qin texts when used together with the meaning of "country; nation; state".

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • characterChinese國 “country; nation; nation-state; kingdom”
    • meaningChinese囗 “box, enclosure”
    • soundChinese或 “or; either ... or ... (used to list alternatives)”
      • meaningChinese戈 “dagger-axe (an ancient Chinese weapon similar to a halberd)”
      • soundChinese員 “member”
        • soundChinese〇 “circle”
        • meaningChinese鼎 “ding (ancient large, three-legged bronze cauldron for cooking or sacrificial rituals)”
  • characterChinese家 “home”
    • meaningChinese宀 “a type of deep house with walls on all four sides, a roof, a main hall, and back rooms”
    • soundChinese𢑓 “pig.”
    • soundChinese豭 “boar; male pig”
      • meaningChinese豕 “pig; boar”
      • soundChinese叚 “original form of 假 (jiǎ, “to borrow”)”
        • ideaChinese爪 “claw (of animal, bird); talon; paw; nail”
        • ideaChinese又 “again; once more”
        • ideaChinese石 “stone; rock (Classifier: 嚿 c; 塊／块 c)”

Meanings

noun
  1. country (with sovereignty); nation; (nation-)state (Classifier: 個／个)
  2. royal court; imperial court; imperial household; imperial government
  3. emperor
  4. city or town enfeoffed to a vassal lord
  5. capital city (of a country)

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 具備領土、人民、主權和政府四個要素的政治團體。 例：政府制定任何決策，對人民、社會、國家，都有牽一髮而動全身的巨大影響力。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

Sources

  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 國家