授予

• Pinyin: shòu yǔ
• Hanzi breakdown: 授 = 手 + 受 (hand passing to receive — to bestow); 予 = ancient pictograph of giving (to give; to grant)

Meaning

To confer; to bestow; to grant (a title, award, degree, or right).

A formal verb used in official ceremonies, academic contexts, and legal settings when an institution formally grants an honour, qualification, or right to a recipient. The subject is always an authoritative body. Key collocations: 授予学位 (to confer a degree); 授予荣誉称号 (to confer an honorary title); 授予专利权 (to grant a patent).

Examples

1. 学校在毕业典礼上向今年表现卓越的应届毕业生授予最高荣誉奖章，以表彰其在学术与社会服务方面的突出贡献。 At the graduation ceremony, the school conferred its highest honor medal on this year’s outstanding graduates in recognition of their exceptional contributions in academics and public service.
2. 国际奥委会决定将本届运动会的主办资格正式授予这座以其完善体育基础设施和高效组织能力著称的城市。 The International Olympic Committee decided to formally award this city—known for its strong sports infrastructure and efficient organization—the right to host this year’s Games.
3. 知识产权局经过为期两年的严格审查，最终决定向该研究团队授予这项突破性生物技术的发明专利。 After two years of rigorous review, the intellectual property office ultimately decided to grant the research team an invention patent for this breakthrough biotechnology.

Usage Guide

Context: ceremonies, academia, law, government

Tone: solemn

Do Say

• 在庄重的颁奖仪式上，校长亲自向这位为母校捐赠图书馆的企业家授予荣誉博士学位，现场数百名师生见证了这一具有重要象征意义的历史时刻。(At a solemn award ceremony, the university president personally conferred an honorary doctorate upon the entrepreneur who donated a library to the alma mater, with hundreds of faculty and students on site witnessing this historically significant moment.)
• 专利局确认该发明具备新颖性、创造性和实用性后，依法授予申请人二十年的发明专利权。(After the patent office confirmed that the invention had novelty, inventiveness, and practicality, it lawfully granted the applicant a twenty-year invention patent right.)

Don't Say

• 授予 in informal giving contexts — use 给 (to give) or 赠送 (to present as a gift); 授予 is reserved for the formal conferral of titles, rights, degrees, or honours by an official body, not everyday giving

Origin & History

授 (to confer; to bestow — 手 hand + 受 to receive) + 予 (to give; to grant — ancient pictograph of a hand giving something)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal