Taxonomy of meanings for 吏:　　

Additional information about 吏

說文解字:

Criteria
• SERVANT
  

  1. The general word for a servant is chén 臣. But the meaning of this term is typically general. See SUBJECT.

  2. Shì 仕 is a permanent employee of some status, normally a literate person.

  3. Lì 吏 is an executive official.

  4. Huàn 宦 refers at an early stage to the person in charge of the servant corps in a household; in imperial times the word came to refer to the head of the imperial household. In later Han times the word came to refer to eunuchs.

  5. Zǎi 宰 refers to the position of the head of a senior household in early times, in charge of the various huàn 宦. The title was also used in the imperial hierarchy as a vague bureaucratic title, translatable perhaps as "political secretary".

• OFFICIAL
  

  1. Officials are referred to as shì 士 and daì fū 大夫. The word shì 士 can also include daì fū 大夫, therefore the term is often used for a whole body of officials.

  2. Dà fū 大夫 "notables" is a general formal term for high officials.

  3. Lì 吏 refers to officials in charge of concrete practical matters, often policing and the like.

  4. Gōng 工 can be used as a general term for clerks.

  5. Yǒu sī 有司 can refer to a person in charge of an office.

  6. Guān 官 refers quite generally to the persons in charge of an office.

  7. Shì zhě 仕者 refers to any person in public employment of any kind.

  8. Lǎo 老 originally politely referred to higher officials (>gōng 公, >qīng 卿, >dài fū 大夫 ), therefore it came to be used as a general term referring to high officials.

  9. Yuán 員 originally refers to officials as counted units, and the word came to be used as a general term for officials.

• DIRTY
  

  1. The current general word for uncleanness and dirt, both concrete and abstract, is wū 污 / 汙 (ant. jié 潔 "clean").

  2. Zhuó 濁 (ant qīng 清 "clear and pure") typically refers to physical states of dirtiness, but there are occasional usages like zhuó lì 濁吏 "morally impure official".

  3. Huì 穢 can refer to physical dirt, but the word is also used abstractly to refer to what is vulgar and morally distasteful.

  4. Hún 混 refers to an admixture of dirt rather than to the presence of dirt on some surface.

  5. Gòu 垢 refers to the presence of physical dirt on some surface.

Word relations
• Epithet: (OFFICIAL)廷 / 庭/COURT The current dominant word for the royal court with its courtyard as a building complex is tíng 廷/庭, although the same word can also be used to refer to the courtyard as opposed to the main court building, i.e. the yard in front of the táng 堂. According to ZHENGZITONG, tíng 廷/庭 were originally unroofed, later they were covered with a roof. See also COURTYARD. 2 Attributions
• Epithet: (OFFICIAL)百/ALL Bǎi 百 is occasionally used to refer to the whole of a well-defined group of things. >>ADNOMINAL 1 Attribution
• Epithet: (OFFICIAL)良/GOOD1 Attribution
• Contrast: (OFFICIAL)官/OFFICIAL Guān 官 refers quite generally to the persons in charge of an office.
• Contrast: (OFFICIAL)臣/MINISTER The general word for a government minister at any level and of any kind is chén 臣, generically rén chén 人臣.
• Contrast: (MAGISTRATE)法官/LAWYER2 Attributions
• Assoc: (OFFICIAL)官/OFFICIAL Guān 官 refers quite generally to the persons in charge of an office. 1 Attribution