官かん吏り

か

ん

り

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

government official; public servant; civil servant

dated term

Dated term for a government official or civil servant. In modern Japanese, 公務員 (こうむいん) is the usual word; 官吏 carries a pre-war or formal legal tone.

戦せん前ぜんは、官かん吏りになることがエリートの証あかしだった。
Before the war, becoming a government official was a mark of the elite.
この法ほう律りつでは、官かん吏りの服ふく務む規き律りつが厳きびしく定さだめられている。
This law strictly prescribes the service discipline of public officials.

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Usage patterns

官かん吏りになるto become a government official
彼かれは試し験けんに合ごう格かくして官かん吏りになった。
He passed the exam and became a government official.
官かん吏りとして働はたらくto work as a government official
祖そ父ふは長なが年ねん、官かん吏りとして働はたらいていた。
My grandfather worked as a government official for many years.
官かん吏りを任にん命めいするto appoint someone as a government official
天皇てんのうが官かん吏りを任にん命めいしていた時じ代だいがあった。
There was an era when the emperor appointed government officials.

Kanji

官bureaucrat, the government, organ
吏officer, an official

Related words

公こう務む員いんN4
公務員 is the modern, neutral term for a public servant or civil servant, while 官吏 is dated and carries a pre-war or formal legal nuance.
役やく人にんN2
役人 is the everyday, sometimes slightly critical word for a government official, whereas 官吏 is an old, formal legal term for the same role.
公こう僕ぼく
公僕 stresses the idea of serving the public and is literary in tone, while 官吏 is a historical administrative title.
下か吏りN1
官吏 is a broader historical term for any civil servant, whereas 下吏 emphasizes the subordinate, petty rank within that class.
官かん憲けん
官吏 is an older, formal term for a government official focused on rank and duty, while 官憲 stresses the enforcement power of the authorities.

Don't confuse with

官かん僚りょうN1
官僚 refers specifically to high-ranking bureaucrats who shape policy, while 官吏 is the broader, dated term for any government official.
管かん理りN3
管理 means management or administration, while 官吏 means a government official; the two share the same reading but have completely unrelated meanings.

Etymology

Borrowed from Literary Chinese 官吏, a collective or compound term for government officials and clerks. It was used in Japanese well before the modern administrative terminology of the Meiji period.