客人 (kè rén) literally combines 客 (kè), meaning 'visitor' or 'customer', and 人 (rén), meaning 'person'. Together, it means 'guest' — someone who is invited to or visits another person’s home, office, or establishment. It carries a respectful, neutral-to-polite connotation and is commonly used in both formal and informal contexts, such as hosting family friends, receiving business visitors, or welcoming tourists.

Unlike the more generic word 人 (rén, 'person'), 客人 implies a relational role: the person is temporarily in someone else’s space, often with expectations of hospitality, courtesy, or service. It can refer to guests at a wedding, hotel patrons, dinner party attendees, or even customers in a shop — though in commercial settings, 顾客 (gù kè) is often preferred for 'customer' to emphasize transactional context.