公务员
gōngwùyuán · HSK 3
civil servant
🏛️ 公务员 = public + affairs + member
公 (public/official) + 务 (affairs/duty) + 员 (member/staff). A 'member of public affairs' — i.e. a civil servant. 务 also appears in 任务 (task) and 服务 (service), reinforcing the duty sense.
公 — eight 八 + private 厶
Originally an ideograph showing 八 (to divide) over 厶 (private/self), depicting the act of splitting away from selfish interest. The combination came to mean 'public' or 'fair,' the opposite of private. It later extended to senses like 'duke,' 'lord,' and 'grandfather.'
员 — mouth 口 + shell/money 贝 (貝)
Originally a pictograph of a round bronze tripod vessel, with 口 depicting its round opening and 鼎 (later simplified to 貝/贝) showing the vessel itself. The original sense was 'round,' now written 圓/圆. It was borrowed to mean 'member' or 'person in a role,' which became its main modern meaning.