Chinese word

运动员

Pronunciation

Pinyinyùn dòng yuán

Meaning

  • nounathlete

Example

运动员每天早上跑步训练。yùn dòng yuán měi tiān zǎo shàng pǎo bù xùn liàn

The athlete runs every morning to train.

Illustration for 运动员 (athlete)

More examples

她是一名奥运会运动员。tā shì yì míng ào yùn huì yùn dòng yuán

She is an Olympic athlete.

Core concept

A person who turns regular physical training into competitive performance.

Common phrases

  • 奥运会运动员ào yùn huì yùn dòng yuán

    Olympic athlete

  • 退役运动员tuì yì yùn dòng yuán

    retired athlete

Similar words

选手xuán shǒu: A person chosen to play in a particular sports match or contest.
参赛者cān sài zhě: A person who takes part in a sports competition or organized event.
队员duì yuán: A member of a sports team who joins its practices and matches.
球员qiú yuán: A person who plays a ball sport in a competitive match.

Definition in Chinese

参加体育比赛或经过系统训练以提高竞技水平的人cān jiā tǐ yù bǐ sài huò jīng guò xì tǒng xùn liàn yǐ tí gāo jìng jì shuǐ píng de rén

Word origin

运 (yùn, "move") and 动 (dòng, "move") create the sports-related base, while 员 (yuán, "person in a role") marks the person who takes that role.

Usage tips

  • In everyday Chinese, this noun usually points to someone connected with organized competition or serious performance training, rather than someone exercising casually for health.

Other meanings

  • playernoun

Opposites

Word lists with this word