TongTong
Sign in

争光 (zhēng guāng) — to win honor for, to bring glory to

Definition

争光 means 'win glory/honor for' someone else (a team, family, country) through your achievement. Unlike 争取 or 争夺, the goal is not the prize itself but the credit it brings to a group. Compare 争气 — working hard so as not to let people down.

verb
to win honor forto bring glory to

Examples

  • 争光。
    Tā xiǎng wéi fù mǔ zhēng guāng.
    He wants to win honor for his parents.
  • 争光。
    Yùn dòng yuán men dōu xī wàng néng wèi guó jiā zhēng guāng.
    The athletes all hope to bring glory to the country.
  • ，。
    Zhè cì bǐ sài, tā wèi xué xiào zhēng le guāng.
    In this competition, he won honor for the school.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

争zhēngstrive for
光guāngglory

争 means strive for and 光 means glory, so it means to win honor.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 爭; 争 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 爭 shows two hands on a plowshare; the simplified 争 is a later abbreviation, so this picture belongs to 爭, not 争.

Open 争 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 火火huǒfire
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The shape 光 places 火 (fire) above 卩 (a kneeling person), showing fire over the head and the shining of light.

Open 光 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.