Chinese word

土生土长

Pronunciation

Pinyintǔ shēng tǔ zhǎng

Meaning

  • adjectivenative

Example

他是土生土长的北京人。tā shì tǔ shēng tú zhǎng de běi jīng rén

He is a native Beijinger.

Illustration for 土生土长 (native)

More examples

她是土生土长于上海的记者。tā shì tǔ shēng tú zhǎng yú shàng hǎi de jì zhě

She is a journalist born and bred in Shanghai.

Core concept

One place is both the starting point of life and the setting for growing up.

Common phrases

  • 土生土长的本地人tǔ shēng tú zhǎng de běn dì rén

    native-born local

  • 土生土长于上海tǔ shēng tú zhǎng yú shàng hǎi

    born and bred in Shanghai

  • 土生土长在农村tǔ shēng tú zhǎng zài nóng cūn

    born and bred in the countryside

Similar words

家乡的jiā xiāng de: Related to the hometown where someone was born and raised.
本地的běn dì de: Belonging to or coming from the place being discussed.
当地的dāng dì de: Connected directly with the local area in question.
外地的wài dì de: Coming from or connected with a region other than the one being discussed.

Definition in Chinese

在某地出生并一直在该地长大zài mǒu dì chū shēng bìng yì zhí zài gāi dì zhǎng dà

Word origin

土生土长 (tǔshēngtǔzhǎng, "native") is built from 土 (tǔ, "land"), 生 (shēng, "be born"), and 长 (zhǎng, "grow"), with 土 repeated to connect one place with both birth and upbringing.

Usage tips

  • The word identifies a local background, so it fits statements about being from Beijing or another place but does not simply mean having lived there for a long time.

Other meanings

  • born and bredadjective

Opposites

Word lists with this word