民 (mín): (bound form) the people, inhabitants of a country
民 (mín) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) the people.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 巳 (structural) and 戈 (structural). It ranks #113 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 民 an eye 巳 pierced by a dagger 戈, an old mark of slavery. Its radical form 氏 (clan) appears in many related characters such as 氏 (shì, (bound form) family name), 氓 (méng, (literary) common people).
Definitions
- (bound form) the people
- inhabitants of a country
Etymology & Origin
ideographicAn eye 巳 pierced by a dagger 戈, an old mark of slavery
Decomposition: ⿻巳戈 (layout: overlay)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 民 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 民
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 人民noun | rén mín | the people | 5 |
| 公民noun | gōng mín | citizen | 6 |
| 移民verb/noun | yí mín | to immigrate | 6 |
| 居民noun | jū mín | resident | 5 |
| 市民noun | shì mín | city resident | 5 |
| 民主noun/adjective | mín zhǔ | democracy | 6 |
| 民众noun | mín zhòng | the populace | 6 |
| 民族noun | mín zú | nationality | 4 |
| 农民noun | nóng mín | peasant | 5 |
| 民间noun | mín jiān | among the people | 6 |
| 中华民族 | zhōng huá mín zú | the Chinese nation | 5 |
| 民宿noun | mín sù | (orthographic borrowing from Japanese 民宿 "minshuku") property rented via Airbnb or similar platform | 6 |
| 民歌noun | mín gē | folk song | 6 |
| 民俗noun | mín sú | popular custom | 6 |
| 人民币noun | rén mín bì | Renminbi (RMB) | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 平民 | píng mín | ordinary people |
| 国民 | guó mín | nationals |
| 难民 | nàn mín | refugee |
| 民事 | mín shì | civil case |
| 村民 | cūn mín | villager |
| 民谣 | mín yáo | ballad |
| 民兵 | mín bīng | people's militia |
| 民宅 | mín zhái | house |
| 民权 | mín quán | civil liberties |
| 全民 | quán mín | entire population (of a country) |
| 贫民 | pín mín | poor people |
| 民意 | mín yì | public opinion |
| 民用 | mín yòng | (for) civilian use |
| 臣民 | chén mín | subject (of a kingdom, ruler etc) |
| 民国 | mín guó | Republic of China (1912-1949) |
民 appears in 100 compound words: 50 as the first character, 48 as the last, and 2 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 民 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (45)
tyrant who has no support and brings disaster to the country and the people
Showing 12 of 45 idioms containing 民.
Example Sentences
民字虽然难写，但意思很有趣。
mín zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .
The character for "people" may be difficult to write, but its meaning is quite interesting.
上观时评|“马上”体祝福里的民生期盼·新世说
shàng guàn shí píng mǎ shàng tǐ zhù fú lǐ de mín shēng qī pàn xīn shì shuō
Shangguan Commentary|" Immediately, "the people's livelihood expectations in the blessing of the new world said
预见金马|财通证券资管马晓立:厚植金融为民底色,以..
yù jiàn jīn mǎ cái tōng zhèng quàn zī guǎn mǎ xiǎo lì : hòu zhí jīn róng wéi mín de sè , yǐ . .
Foresight Golden Horse|Caitong Securities Asset Management Ma Xiaoli: Cultivate finance as the background of the people, to:
新春中国行丨中国年遇上“送冬节”:中俄民众共赴春天..
xīn chūn zhōng guó háng 丨 zhōng guó nián yù shàng sòng dōng jié : zhōng é mín zhòng gòng fù chūn tiān . .
New Year China Tour丨Chinese New Year meets "Winter Festival": Chinese and Russian people go to spring together:
海报荐读|“马上”体祝福里的民生期盼;AI“灵魂附..
hǎi bào jiàn dòu mǎ shàng tǐ zhù fú lǐ de mín shēng qī pàn ; A I líng hún fù . .
Poster Recommendation|" Immediately, "feel the expectations of people's livelihood in the blessing; AI's "soul attachment:
视频丨跨越4000多公里 为了让援疆民警尝到家的味..
shì pín 丨 kuà yuè 4 0 0 0 duō gōng lǐ wéi le ràng yuán jiāng mín jǐng cháng dào jiā de wèi . .
Video丨Spanning more than 4,000 kilometers, in order to let the police who aid Xinjiang taste the taste of home:
墨西哥有很多贫民窟。
Mòxīgē yǒu hěn duō pínmínkū.
There are many slums in Mexico.
这个国家的政府压迫人民。
Zhège guójiā de zhèngfǔ yāpò rénmín.
The government of this country oppresses its people.
领主对他的臣民有绝对权力。
Lǐngzhǔ duì tā de chénmín yǒu juéduìquán lì.
The lord held absolute power over his subjects.
日本人是勤奋的国民。
Rìběnrén shì qínfèn de guómín.
The Japanese are an industrious people.
Character Family
氏 Radical Family — Characters sharing the clan radical
Homophones — Characters pronounced mín
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 民 (mín) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 民 have?
What is the radical of 民?
What are the components of 民?
What are common words containing 民?
What characters sound the same as 民 (mín)?
Is 民 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 民 with real-time feedback
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