介怀 (jiè huái) — (verb, often negative) to mind, to care about, to take to heart

Definition

介怀 (jièhuái) means to take something to heart, almost always used in the negative ('not mind / not care about') — close to 在意 but more literary, often about past slights or small wrongs.

verb
(verb, often negative) to mindto care aboutto take to heart

Examples

  • ，介怀。
    Duì yú zhè xiē xiǎo shì, wǒ cóng lái bú jiè huái.
    I never take such little things to heart.
  • ，介怀。
    Tā xīn xiōng kuān guǎng, bú huì jiè huái zhè diǎn guò shī.
    He is broad-minded and won't mind this small mistake.
  • ，介怀。
    Guò qù de shì jiù ràng tā guò qù ba, bú bì jiè huái.
    Let the past be the past — no need to dwell on it.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

介jièto place
怀huáiheart

介 and 怀 together suggest putting one's heart on something, hence to mind it.

Characters in this word

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

介 shows a central human form with two marks around it, indicating being between.

Open 介 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 懷; 怀 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
褱
褱huái懷huái
Same sound today

The traditional form 懷 uses 心 (heart) to show longing and 褱 for the sound; the simplified 怀 is a later shorthand.

Open 怀 →

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