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凯旋 (kǎi xuán) — to return in triumph, to return victorious

Definition

A formal, written verb meaning 'to return victorious' — almost always about soldiers or delegations coming home after winning. Pairs with 归来 / 回国; not used for everyday 'coming back'.

verb
to return in triumphto return victorious

Examples

  • 凯旋。
    Qián xiàn jiàng shì zhōng yú kǎi xuán le.
    The soldiers on the front finally returned in triumph.
  • 凯旋。
    Ào yùn dài biǎo tuán kǎi xuán huí guó.
    The Olympic delegation returned triumphantly to the country.
  • 凯旋！
    Zhù nǐ men zǎo rì kǎi xuán!
    Wish you an early triumphant return!

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.

凯kǎitriumph
旋xuánreturn

凯 carries victory or triumph, 旋 means return, so the whole means to come back victorious.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 凱; 凯 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
豈豈qǐdrum
Sound part声符shēngfú
几
几jǐ凱kǎi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 凱 may have been built from 豈, a drum, and 几 to give the sound; the simplified 凯 is a later abbreviation.

Open 凯 →

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

  • 㫃㫃㫃flag
  • 止止zhǐfoot
  • 〇〇língcircle

旋 combines 㫃 (a flag), 止 (a foot), and 〇 (a circle), and 〇 also gave the sound.

Open 旋 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Military & DefenseSuccess & Failure

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