公 而 忘 私

gōng ér wàng sīdictionary entry

for the common good and forgetting personal interests (idiom) / to behave altruistically / selfless

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-7ef5622a0b8bfd9d. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

公而忘私 公而忘私 [gong1 er2 wang4 si1] /for the common good and forgetting personal interests (idiom); to behave altruistically/selfless/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

公
gōng
public / collectively owned / common / international (e.g. high seas, metric system, calendar) / make public / fair / just / Duke, highest of five orders of nobility 五等爵位[wǔ děng jué wèi] / honorable (gentlemen) / father-in-law / male (animal)
而
ér
and / as well as / and so / but (not) / yet (not) / (indicates causal relation) / (indicates change of state) / (indicates contrast)
忘
wàng
to forget / to overlook / to neglect
私
sī
(bound form) personal / private / (bound form) selfish / (bound form) clandestine / (bound form) illicit / (Internet slang) to send a private message to sb

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.