Kilo Lingo

(chǔ lǐ) - to handle, to deal with, to process in Mandarin

chǔ

Traditional: 處理

Line drawing of 处理
Coloured illustration of 处理
HSK 4
#532 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

to handle, to deal with, to process

Word origin

The word 处理 combines 处 'to manage, to be situated' with 理 'to put in order, principle'. 理 is a phono-semantic compound with 玉 (jade) as meaning element and 里 (lǐ) as phonetic, originally the act of working jade along its grain, hence to put in order. Together they mean to handle or deal with.

Origin
compound
Root
处 (chǔ, to manage) + 理 (lǐ, to order: 玉 jade + 里 phonetic)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 处

Stroke order for 理

Examples

I will handle this matter.

You need to deal with this problem seriously.

Data processing takes time.

This matter needs to be handled carefully.

She is dealing with the customer's complaint.

处理 (chǔ lǐ) means to handle, deal with, or process. It covers a wide range of situations from resolving problems (处理问题, deal with a problem) to managing affairs (处理事务, handle affairs) to processing data (数据处理, data processing). As a versatile administrative verb it is used in both formal and informal contexts. The compound 处理方式 means the way of handling something.

Used in

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This word is part of lesson 11.