Meaning of 教授
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- professor
- to teach (a subject)
How to use 教授
As a noun, 教授 (jiàoshòu) is a title for university professors, often placed after a surname like 王教授 (Wáng jiàoshòu). It can also be a formal verb meaning to teach a subject, read jiāoshòu. Example: 李教授在大学教历史。(Lǐ jiàoshòu zài dàxué jiāo lìshǐ.) Professor Li teaches history at the university.
教 means to teach and 授 means to hand over or pass on, with the hand radical 扌 on the left. A professor is someone who teaches and hands knowledge over to students.
Common mistake: Learners often use 教授 for any teacher, but it means a university professor. Use 老师 (lǎoshī) or 教师 (jiàoshī) for schoolteachers. Also, 授 (shòu) is often confused with 受 (shòu, to receive). 授 has the hand radical 扌 because it means giving.
教授 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.
教 jiāo · to teach · 11 strokes
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授 shòu · to award · 11 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 教授.
| 教学楼 | jiàoxuélóu | school building; academic building |
| 教育 | jiàoyù | to educate; to teach |
| 教师 | jiàoshī | teacher |
| 教室 | jiàoshì | classroom |
| 教学 | jiàoxué | to teach |
| 教练 | jiàoliàn | to coach; to train; instructor; sports coach; trainer (CL:位[wei4],名[ming2]) |
| 请教 | qǐngjiào | to ask for guidance; to consult |
| 教材 | jiàocái | teaching material |
| 教训 | jiàoxùn | to provide guidance; to lecture sb; to upbraid; a talking-to; a bitter lesson |
| 教堂 | jiàotáng | church; chapel |
| 宗教 | zōngjiào | religion |
| 基督教 | Jīdūjiào | Christianity |
Questions about 教授
What does 教授 mean?
教授 (jiàoshòu) means "professor" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 教授?
教授 is made of 2 characters: 教 (11 strokes), 授 (11 strokes). That is 22 strokes in total.
Is 教授 an HSK word?
Yes. 教授 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 教 have two pronunciations in 教授?
教 is read jiào in nouns and compounds like 教授 (professor) and 教室. It is read jiāo when it acts as a plain verb meaning to teach, so the verb sense of 教授 is listed as jiāoshòu.
How do I address a professor in Chinese?
Put the surname before the title, as in 张教授 (Zhāng jiàoshòu). In everyday campus speech many students also just say 张老师 (Zhāng lǎoshī), which sounds warmer and is still polite.