(jú) - bureau, office; a round or game in Mandarin
júTraditional: 局
Translation
bureau, office; a round or game
Word origin
Written with 尺 (chǐ, measure) over 句 (jù, phonetic). The early sense was something bounded or hemmed in, which gives both the government office with its remit and the single bounded round of a game.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 尺 (chǐ, measure) + 句 (jù, phonetic)
Stroke order
局
Examples
邮。
He works at the post office.
。
Let us play another round.
。
You won this round.
。
The police bureau is just up ahead.
。
The situation now is complicated.
局 (jú) is a bound morpheme with two lives. The first is administrative: a bureau or government department, and it sits on the end of the name rather than the front. 邮局 is the post office, 公安局 the public security bureau, 电视局 the broadcasting authority.
The second is a single round of a game, and here it works as a measure word: 一局 is one round, 三局两胜 is best of three. Card games, chess, badminton, video games, all counted in 局.
The abstract sense of a situation shows up in compounds rather than alone: 局面 (jú miàn) is the state of play, 结局 (jié jú) the ending, 全局 (quán jú) the overall picture. English speakers reasonably try to use bare 局 for "the situation" and it does not work. Keep the compound.
Where this fits
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局: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "局" (bureau, office; a round or game): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 49.