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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

平民百姓

/pʰiŋ³⁵ min³⁵ paɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕiŋ⁵¹/
the common people; ordinary citizens
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    The term refers to the common people, represented by the many families and citizens living their simple, level lives.
    The term refers to the common people, represented by the many families and citizens living their simple, level lives.

    Origin

    The phrase 平民百姓 is composed of the characters 平 (level; even; flat), 民 (people; citizens), 百 (hundred), and 姓 (surname; family name; clan name).

    The character 平 contains the semantic components 二 (two) and 亏 (exhaled air), the component 八 (eight), and the phonetic component 釆 (to distinguish; to discriminate). The character 百 uses 一 (one) as a semantic component and 白 (white) as a phonetic component.

    The character 姓 combines the semantic component 女 (woman; female) with the phonetic component 生 (to live; to subsist; to exist). The character 生 is itself formed from the components 屮 (new birth of plant) and 一 (one).

    Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

    平民百姓由平、民、百、姓四個漢字組成。其中「平」字包含「八」、「釆」、「亏」以及表示意義的「二」。「百」字由表示意義的「一」與表示聲音的「白」組成。「姓」字則由表示意義的「女」與表示聲音的「生」組成，而「生」字包含「屮」與「一」。

    Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

    Lineage

    • characterChinese平 “level; even; flat”
      • componentChinese八 “eight”
      • soundChinese釆 “to distinguish; to discriminate”
      • componentChinese亏 “exhaled air”
      • meaningChinese二 “two”
    • characterChinese民 “people; citizens”
    • characterChinese百 “hundred”
      • meaningChinese一 “one”
      • soundChinese白 “white”
    • characterChinese姓 “surname; family name; clan name”
      • meaningChinese女 “woman; (only of humans in Standard Chinese) female”
      • soundChinese生 “to live; to subsist; to exist”
        • ideaChinese屮 “new birth of plant”
    Wiktionary etymology text

    No etymology text yet. The graph shows what is known from the sources.

    Meanings

    phrase
    1. the common people; ordinary citizens

    Sources

    • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
    • Written form — n/a
    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0