民主

Chinese

		the people; nationality; citizen	to own; to host; master to own; to host; master; lord; primary
simp. and trad. (民主)		民	主

Etymology

In Classical Chinese, 民主 meant "monarch", as in 民之主, or "ruler of the people". This was repurposed in the mid-1860s to mean "democracy", "democratic" during the translation of the book Elements of International Law.

Noun

(deprecated template usage) 民主

1. democracy

   • 君主者，權偏於上；民主者，權偏於下。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     君主者，权偏于上；民主者，权偏于下。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 鄭觀應《盛世危言·議院》 (1893)

     Jūnzhǔ zhě, quán piān yú shàng; mínzhǔ zhě, quán piān yú xià. [Pinyin]

     Monarchy skews power toward the upper class; democracy skews power toward the lower class.

   • 美國終於產生了歷史上第一位黑人總統巴拉克·奧巴馬，這對於美國的民主政治具有劃時代的意義。 [MSC, trad.]
     美国终于产生了历史上第一位黑人总统巴拉克·奥巴马，这对于美国的民主政治具有划时代的意义。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2008: 周琪 (Zhou Qi), 【美国大选观察】奥巴马为什么大胜？ ([Observations on the American Elections] Why did Obama have a great victory?)

     Měiguó zhōngyú chǎnshēng le lìshǐ shàng dì yī wèi hēirén zǒngtǒng Bālākè Àobāmǎ, zhè duìyú měiguó de mínzhǔ zhèngzhì jùyǒu huàshídài de yìyì. [Pinyin]

     The historic election of the US’s first black president, Barack Obama, marked an epoch in the history of American democracy.

2. (Classical) monarch
3. (Classical) functionary; official

Synonyms

• (democracy): (obsolete) 德謨克拉西／德谟克拉西 (démókèlāxī)

Adjective

(deprecated template usage) 民主

1. democratic

   民主協商／民主协商  ―  mínzhǔ xiéshāng  ―  democratic consultation

   人民民主專政／人民民主专政  ―  rénmín mínzhǔ zhuānzhèng  ―  people's democratic dictatorship

Descendants

• → Zhuang: minzcuj

Proper noun

(deprecated template usage) 民主

1. (～村) Minzhu (a village in Zhonglu, Lichuan, Enshi prefecture, Hubei, China)

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Kanji in this term
民	主
みん Grade: 4	しゅ Grade: 3
on’yomi

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl]  民主 (mínzhǔ). Purposed in China in the mid-1860s, giving the word a new meaning, during the translation of the book Elements of International Law into Chinese.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• IPA^(key): [miɴɕʲɯᵝ]

Noun

民(みん)主(しゅ) • (minshu) 

1. democracy

Synonyms

• 民主主義(みんしゅしゅぎ) (minshu shugi) (more commonly used)

Derived terms

• 民主党(みんしゅとう) (minshutō): democratic party
• 民主的(みんしゅてき) (minshuteki): democratic

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Korean

Hanja in this term
民	主

Noun

民主 • (minju) (hangeul 민주)

1. Hanja form^? of 민주 (“democracy”).

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Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
民	主

Noun

民主

1. chữ Hán form of dân chủ (“democracy”).

Adjective

民主

1. chữ Hán form of dân chủ (“democratic”).