公益性
gōngyìxìng · HSK 7
Public welfare
🤝 公 public + 益 benefit + 性 -ness = public-benefit-ness
公 (gōng) means public/communal, 益 (yì) means benefit or profit, and 性 (xìng) is a suffix turning words into abstract nouns (like English -ness). Together: the quality of serving public welfare.
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.'
性 — heart radical 忄 + 生 (life/birth)
性 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 忄 supplies the meaning, pointing to inner feelings or innate qualities, while 生 ('birth, life') gives the sound and hints at what one is born with. It originally meant 'inborn nature' and later extended to 'character,' 'gender,' and 'sex.'