Chinese word

公立

Pronunciation

Pinyingōng lì

Meaning

  • adjectivepublic

Example

你想让孩子上公立学校还是私立学校？nǐ xiǎng ràng hái zi shàng gōng lì xué xiào hái shì sī lì xué xiào

Do you want your child to go to a public or private school?

Illustration for 公立 (public)

More examples

他去了公立医院检查。tā qù le gōng lì yī yuàn jiǎn chá

He went to a public hospital for a checkup.

Core concept

An institution stands on public resources and serves the community rather than a private owner.

Common phrases

  • 公立学校gōng lì xué xiào

    public school

  • 公立医院gōng lì yī yuàn

    public hospital

  • 公立大学gōng lì dà xué

    public university

Similar words

私立sī lì: Funded and operated by private people or organizations.
公办gōng bàn: Established and run by a government or public authority.
国营guó yíng: Owned and managed by the state, especially in business and industry.

Definition in Chinese

指由公共经费支持并面向全体社会成员提供服务的机构或组织的性质，例如公立学校、公立图书馆等。zhǐ yóu gōng gòng jīng fèi zhī chí bìng miàn xiàng quán tǐ shè huì chéng yuán tí gōng fú wù de jī gòu huò zǔ zhī de xìng zhì lì rú gōng lì xué xiào gōng lì tú shū guǎn děng

Word origin

公 (gōng, "public") + 立 (lì, "stand or establish") presents an institution as publicly established and supported.

Usage tips

  • In American English, public school normally means a state-funded school, while in British English public school traditionally means a fee-paying independent school.

Opposites

Word lists with this word