Meaning of 同胞
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- born of the same parents
- sibling
- fellow citizen
- compatriot
How to use 同胞
Today 同胞 is mostly used in the wider sense of compatriots, often in formal speech, news, or appeals to national feeling. It is common in phrases like 台湾同胞 (Táiwān tóngbāo) or 海外同胞 (hǎiwài tóngbāo). Example: 我们都是同胞。(Wǒmen dōu shì tóngbāo.) We are all compatriots.
同 (tóng) means "same" and 胞 (bāo) relates to the womb, with the flesh radical 月 on the left. People from the same womb are siblings, and by extension, people of the same nation are fellow countrymen.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write 胞 as 抱 (bào, to hug) or 饱 (bǎo, full), which share the 包 part. Remember that 胞 takes the flesh radical 月 and is read with a first tone, bāo.
同胞 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.
同 tóng · like · 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
胞 bāo · womb · 9 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
Related words
Words that share a character with 同胞.
| 同学 | tóngxué | to study at the same school; fellow student |
| 不同 | bù tóng | different; distinct |
| 同样 | tóngyàng | same; equal; similar; similarly; also; too |
| 同时 | tóngshí | at the same time; simultaneously |
| 同事 | tóngshì | colleague; co-worker |
| 相同 | xiāngtóng | identical; same |
| 同意 | tóngyì | to agree; to consent |
| 共同 | gòngtóng | common; joint |
| 同情 | tóngqíng | to sympathize with; sympathy |
| 合同 | hétóng | contract; agreement |
| 如同 | rútóng | like; as |
| 胡同儿 | hútòngr | erhua form of 胡同[hu2 tong4] |
Questions about 同胞
What does 同胞 mean?
同胞 (tóngbāo) means "born of the same parents; sibling" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 同胞?
同胞 is made of 2 characters: 同 (6 strokes), 胞 (9 strokes). That is 15 strokes in total.
Is 同胞 an HSK word?
Yes. 同胞 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can I use 同胞 to talk about my brother or sister?
It is possible in a formal or literary sense, as in 同胞兄弟 (tóngbāo xiōngdì, full brothers). In everyday speech, people just say 兄弟姐妹 (xiōngdì jiěmèi) for siblings.
What is the difference between 同胞 and 同事 or 同学?
All three use 同 to mean sharing something. 同胞 shares origin or nationality, 同事 (tóngshì) shares a workplace, and 同学 (tóngxué) shares a school.