校长/校長 xiàozhǎng — headteacher, principal, university president

Meanings

1. 1

   headteacher, principal, university president

   The head of a school, at any level — the word covers a primary head and a university president alike. 长 here is read zhǎng, "chief", not cháng "long"; the same 长 makes 部长 a minister and 家长 a parent.

   noun

Character breakdown

• 校

  xiào (fourth tone, falling) jiào (fourth tone, falling)

  school; (jiào) to check against an original, to proofread, to collate

  10 strokes⿰木交Radical 木
• 长/長

  cháng (second tone, rising) zhǎng (third tone, dipping)

  (cháng) long; length; (zhǎng) to grow, to develop; elder, senior; the head of an organisation

  4 strokesRadical 長

Example sentences

• 校长今天要跟我们说话。/校長今天要跟我們說話。Xiàozhǎng (fourth tone, falling) jīntiān (first tone, high and level) yào (fourth tone, falling) gēn (first tone, high and level) wǒmen (third tone, dipping) shuōhuà. (first tone, high and level)···

  The head is going to speak to us today.

• 这位是我们学校的校长。/這位是我們學校的校長。Zhè (fourth tone, falling) wèi (fourth tone, falling) shì (fourth tone, falling) wǒmen (third tone, dipping) xuéxiào (second tone, rising) de (neutral tone) xiàozhǎng. (fourth tone, falling)···

  This is the head of our school.

Common mistakes

• Not quite他是我们学校的经理。

  Correct他是我们学校的校长。

  经理 runs a business. Schools, hospitals and government offices each have their own title, and a school’s is 校长. Using 经理 for a headteacher sounds as odd as calling a head "the branch manager".

Similar words

Words containing 校

• 学校/學校xuéxiào (second tone, rising)school
• 校园/校園xiào (fourth tone, falling) yuán (second tone, rising)campus
• 夜校yè (fourth tone, falling) xiào (fourth tone, falling)evening school

Words containing 长

• 长/長zhǎng (third tone, dipping)long (in space or in time)
• 长/長cháng (second tone, rising)length
• 长大/長大zhǎng (third tone, dipping) dà (fourth tone, falling)to grow up
• 成长/成長chéng (second tone, rising) zhǎng (third tone, dipping)to mature
• 家长/家長jiā (first tone, high and level) zhǎng (third tone, dipping)head of a household
• 长途/長途chángtú (second tone, rising)long-distance
• 长期/長期cháng (second tone, rising) qī (first tone, high and level)long term
• 局长/局長jú (second tone, rising) zhǎng (third tone, dipping)bureau chief
• 队长/隊長duì (fourth tone, falling) zhǎng (third tone, dipping)captain
• 市长/市長shì (fourth tone, falling) zhǎng (third tone, dipping)mayor
• 增长/增長zēng (first tone, high and level) zhǎng (third tone, dipping)to grow
• 部长/部長bù (fourth tone, falling) zhǎng (third tone, dipping)head of a (government etc) department
• 生长/生長shēng (first tone, high and level) zhǎng (third tone, dipping)to grow
• 擅长/擅長shàn (fourth tone, falling) cháng (second tone, rising)to be good at
• 会长/會長huì (fourth tone, falling) zhǎng (third tone, dipping)president of a club, committee etc
• 漫长/漫長màn (fourth tone, falling) cháng (second tone, rising)very long