机关

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 他在政府机关工作。▶ —
   He works in a government office.
2. 机关枪发出巨大的声响。▶ —
   The machine gun gave off a deafening roar.

Collocations

Mnemonic

机 jī "mechanism" + 关 guān "to close/gate": a Sino-Korean word "office, organ". ① a government office (政府机关) ② a mechanical device (机关枪, a machine gun) ③ a cunning scheme (机关算尽, to exhaust every trick). The cognate centers on sense ①, but Chinese also carries ②③, a meaning gap. Similar to 机构 in sense ①.

Related

Quick check

1. What meaning gap does 机关 show?

   • Chinese also means ② a device (机关枪) and ③ a scheme (机关算尽)
   • only "office"
   • only "machine"
   • only "person"