Table of Contents
Pronunciation
Definition
重鎮 (じゅうちん, jūchin) is an advanced Japanese word that means “a person who is very important in a particular field”. This word is often used with “~界の”, meaning “in the world of ~”. For instance, “ファッション界の重鎮” means “an important person/a leading light in the world of fashion”. You can also use this word to describe an important person in a group or organisation, as in “自民党の重鎮” meaning “a very important member of the Liberal Democratic Party”.
Word Structure
重鎮 consists of the two kanji characters “重” and “鎮“. The former means “heavy”, and the latter means “weight”. Therefore, the literal meaning of the word is “heavy weight”, and it figuratively describes a person who is very important, as in “heavyweight” in English.
Related Word: 文鎮 (bunchin)
文鎮 is another word that contains “鎮”, and means “a paperweight”. This word is often used figuratively to describe a completely broken IT device, which works as nothing but a paperweight. It can also be used as a verb as “文鎮化する”, which means “(an IT device) becomes a paperweight; becomes completely useless)”.
Example Sentences
Ex1
その会議には、政治界の重鎮が多数参加した
A lot of leading lights in the world of politics (political heavyweights) joined the meeting.
Ex2
多くのアート界や音楽界の重鎮がそのパーティーに招待された
A lot of leading lights in the world of arts and music were invited to the party.
Ex3
彼はマイクロソフトの重鎮として知られている。
He is famous for an important worker in Microsoft
Synonyms: ドン (bigwig), ボス (boss), 大御所 (very important and experienced person/veteran)
Synonyms in English: heavyweight, bigwig, leading light
Related words and phrases: 文鎮 (ぶんちん, paperweight)
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