Expressions 官かん に 就つ く enter government service; take up a public office 勝か てば 官かん 軍ぐん might is right; history is written by the victors Kanji 官 bureaucrat, the government, organ Related words 官僚 specifically means the bureaucrat or bureaucratic system, while 官 is the broader, more abstract term for government or officialdom.
役人 is the everyday word for a government official, while 官 is more formal and mostly appears in compounds like 高官 or 任官 .
公務員 is the modern legal term for a civil servant, whereas 官 is an older, more literary word for the same idea.
Opposites 官 refers to the government side, while 民 refers to the private sector or the general populace, as seen in the pair 官民 .
官 refers to the government or officials, standing in contrast to 民 , the common people who are governed.
Don't confuse with 官 (government) and 館 (building, hall) share the same reading かん but have completely unrelated meanings.
官 (government) and 管 (tube, pipe, also in 管理 ) look visually similar and share the reading かん , but differ by the 竹 radical and meaning.
宮 and 官 share the same 宀 radical and a similar overall shape, but 宮 means palace while 官 means a government official or bodily organ.
Word family· 241 secretary (government); director; chief
police officer; policeman; constable
bureaucrat; government official; bureaucracy
police officer
judge
Show 25 more Show fewer government secretariat; executive office
military officer; commissioned officer
instructor; teacher; professor
official residence
the senses; sensory faculties · sensuality; carnality
public prosecutor; prosecutor
organ
high official; senior government official
adjutant; aide-de-camp
superior officer; commanding officer
vice-minister; undersecretary
government office; government agency; authorities
Shinto priest
government and municipal offices; public agencies
examiner; investigator; inquisitor; agent
private secretary
public and private sectors; government and private sector; government and people
government service; entering government service · finding a new lord to serve (of a ronin)
official gazette; government newsletter · official telegram
general; admiral; flag officer
non-commissioned officer; petty officer
government-made; government-manufactured
officials; authorities
plasterer
government forces; loyalist army
See all 241 in Explore →
Etymology The kanji 官 originally depicted a roof over a person, symbolizing an official building or authority. The reading かん is the Sino-Japanese on'yomi.
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