代理 meaning in English
to act on behalf of sb in a responsible position; to act as an agent or proxy
Meaning of 代理
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to act on behalf of sb in a responsible position
- to act as an agent or proxy
- surrogate
- (computing) proxy
How to use 代理
代理 is used for someone temporarily filling a position, for business agents and distributors, and for proxy servers in computing. It can come before a job title to mean acting, as in 代理经理 (dàilǐ jīnglǐ) acting manager. Example: 他代理校长的工作。(Tā dàilǐ xiàozhǎng de gōngzuò.) He is acting on behalf of the principal.
代 (dài) means to replace or stand in for, and 理 (lǐ) means to manage, as in 处理 (chǔlǐ). So 代理 is to stand in and manage things for someone else, like an agent or proxy.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 代理 (dàilǐ) with 道理 (dàolǐ, reason). They sound close, but the first syllable differs: dài vs. dào. Also, 代表 (dàibiǎo) means to represent someone's views, while 代理 means to actually do someone's job or business for them.
代理 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
代 dài · to be a substitute for · 5 strokes
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理 lǐ · texture · 11 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 代理.
| 道理 | dàolǐ | reason; argument |
| 经理 | jīnglǐ | manager; director |
| 理想 | lǐxiǎng | an ideal; a dream |
| 处理 | chǔlǐ | to handle; to deal with; to punish |
| 理解 | lǐjiě | to comprehend; to understand |
| 代表 | dàibiǎo | representative; delegate |
| 理由 | lǐyóu | reason; grounds |
| 时代 | shídài | age; era |
| 理论 | lǐlùn | theory; to argue |
| 年代 | niándài | a decade of a century (e.g. the Sixties); age |
| 管理 | guǎnlǐ | to supervise; to manage |
| 整理 | zhěnglǐ | to arrange; to tidy up |
Questions about 代理
What does 代理 mean?
代理 (dàilǐ) means "to act on behalf of sb in a responsible position; to act as an agent or proxy" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 代理?
代理 is made of 2 characters: 代 (5 strokes), 理 (11 strokes). That is 16 strokes in total.
Is 代理 an HSK word?
Yes. 代理 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do you say proxy server in Chinese?
It is 代理服务器 (dàilǐ fúwùqì). In casual tech talk people often just say 代理, for example 设置代理 (shèzhì dàilǐ), to set up a proxy.
What is the word for an agent or distributor as a person or company?
You can say 代理人 (dàilǐrén) for a person acting as agent, or 代理商 (dàilǐshāng) for a business that distributes a brand's products.