隐私
yǐnsī
The English word 'privacy' is translated into Chinese as 隐私 (yǐnsī).
隐私 refers to the concept of freedom from publicity, scrutiny or surveillance. When you want to specify 'personal privacy', the standard way is to add 个人 (gèrén) before the word to form 个人隐私. Common verb collocations include 侵犯 (qīnfàn) to mean 'to violate/infringe on privacy' and 保护 (bǎohù) to mean 'to protect privacy'.
Meaning: freedom from publicity, scrutiny, surveillance, etc. (noun)
Is it said differently in some regions?
隐私 is the term used in Mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia. In Hong Kong and Macau, the term 私隐 is more commonly used to convey the concept of 'privacy'.
How do you pronounce it?
yǐnsī
Did you know?
- Historically, the concept of individual 'privacy' was less emphasized in communal Confucian societies. Consequently, many modern terms for 'privacy' are relatively recent translations of Western legal concepts.
- In the context of 'privacy' as a physical space, Chinese speakers often use words meaning 'quiet' or 'secluded' rather than 隐私. The latter is almost exclusively used for information and data.
- The word 隐私 contains the character 隐, which means 'hidden' or 'invisible'. In traditional Chinese culture, this often carries a connotation of things that are intentionally concealed because they are shameful or secret.
Examples in context
- 不要侵犯她的隐私。Don't intrude on her privacy.This sentence shows how to use 隐私 in a command regarding intrusion.Tatoeba #1780724 by sadhen, translation #309040 by CM
- 他侵犯了她的隐私。He intruded on her privacy.This sentence demonstrates the use of 隐私 when discussing someone intruding on privacy.Tatoeba #1780725 by sadhen, translation #302793 by CM
- 个人隐私就是一个笑话。Personal privacy is a joke.This sentence illustrates the use of 隐私 when describing personal privacy as a joke.Tatoeba #4813406 by sadhen, translation #4844618 by pig8322
- 我们应该尊重他人的隐私。We should respect other people's privacy.
- 在工作环境中，人们需要一定的私人空间。In a work environment, people need a certain level of privacy.
- 这些文件需要保密。These documents need to be kept confidential.
- 我们都应该尊重彼此的隐私生活。We should all respect each other's private lives.
- 我需要一些不被打扰的空间来思考。I need some undisturbed space to think.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Wei and Zihan are talking about phone security.
- 伟 Wei你为什么要给手机设密码？Nǐ wèishéme yào gěi shǒujī shè mìmǎ?Why do you want to set a password for your phone?
- 梓涵 Zihan因为我很在意个人隐私。Yīnwèi wǒ hěn zàiyì gèrén yǐnsī.Because I care a lot about my personal privacy.
- 伟 Wei但我不需要知道你的隐私。Dàn wǒ bù xūyào zhīdào nǐ de yǐnsī.But I don't need to know your privacy.
- 梓涵 Zihan谢谢你的理解，伟。Xièxiè nǐ de lǐjiě, Wěi.Thank you for understanding, Wei.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
