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信用 (xìn yòng) — trustworthiness; (commerce) credit

Definition

信用 is the trust or credit you earn through reliable behavior — used for people and businesses, especially in financial contexts (信用卡, 信用贷款). Confusable with 信誉 (a company's public reputation) and 信贷 (the loan itself).

noun
trustworthiness(commerce) credit

Examples

  • 信用。
    Tā shì yí gè hěn yǒu xìn yòng de rén.
    He is a very trustworthy person.
  • 信用，。
    Nǐ de xìn yòng hěn hǎo, kě yǐ jiè qián.
    Your credit is good; you can borrow money.
  • 信用。
    Nà jiā gōng sī de xìn yòng bú cuò.
    That company has good credit.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

信xìntrust
用yònguse

信 (trust) and 用 (use) together mean a trusted basis for use, such as credit.

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.

用 was formed by adding a handle to an earlier form.

Open 用 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Finance & Banking

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