Korean word

동기

Pronunciation

Romanizationtonggi

Meaning

  • nounsame-year colleague

Example

회사에서 동기와 점심을 먹었어요.hoe sa e seo tong gi wa cheom si meul meo geo sseo yo

I had lunch at work with a colleague who joined the company the same year I did.

Illustration for 동기 (same-year colleague)

More examples

동기 모임에 자주 가요.tong gi mo i me cha ju ka yo

I often go to gatherings with my cohort.

Core concept

Peers who enter the same school or workplace at the same time and belong to the same cohort.

Common phrases

  • 같은 동기ka teun tong gi

    same-cohort peer

  • 학년 동기hang nyeon tong gi

    same-year classmate

  • 동기 모임tong gi mo im

    cohort gathering

Similar words

동료tongnyo: A person who works in the same company or organization.
선배seonbae: A person who joined the same group earlier or has more experience.
후배hubae: A person who joined the same school or workplace group later.

Definition in Korean

같은 시기에 학교나 회사 등에 들어온 사람을 뜻하는 명사로, 동기생이나 같은 기수의 사람을 가리킨다.ka teun si gi e hak kkyo na hoe sa teung e teu reo on sa ra meul tteu ta neun myeong sa ro tong gi saeng i na ka teun ki su ui sa ra meul ka ri kin da

Word origin

The cohort sense comes from the Sino-Korean idea of sharing the same period, which developed into a word for people who entered together.

Usage tips

  • The relationship depends on when people joined, not on their age, so people of different ages can still belong to this group.

Other meanings

  • motivationnoun
  • same-year classmatenoun

Related words

  • 동기생tonggisaengcohort matenoun
  • 동기부여tonggibuyeomotivationnoun

Word lists with this word