信佛 (xìn fó) — to believe in Buddhism; to be a Buddhist

Definition

信佛 means to be a practicing Buddhist — it implies more than just believing; it often comes with adopting Buddhist practices like vegetarianism. Note that 信佛 is a separable verb: 信了佛, not *信佛了.

verb
to believe in Buddhismto be a Buddhist

Examples

  • 信佛。
    Wǒ nǎi nai xìn fó yǐ jīng sān shí duō nián le.
    My grandmother has been a Buddhist for over thirty years.
  • ，信佛。
    Tā yǐ qián bú xìn fó, hòu lái màn màn xìn fó le.
    He didn't believe in Buddhism before, but later he gradually became a Buddhist.
  • ，。
    Tā xìn le fó yǐ hòu, kāi shǐ chī sù le.
    After she became a Buddhist, she started eating vegetarian.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

信xìnbelieve
佛fóBuddha

信 means believe, and 佛 is Buddha, together describing belief in Buddhism.

Characters in this word

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánwords
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén信xìn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

信 pairs 人 as the sound part with 言 (words) as the meaning part.

Open 信 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
弗
弗fú佛Fó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

佛 is made from 亻, a person, and 弗, which gives the sound.

Open 佛 →

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