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历险 (lì xiǎn) — to go through adventures, to have adventures; to have a narrow escape, to experience danger

Definition

历险 means to go through adventures or face danger — a literary verb for 'braving peril', not everyday 'going out'. Often used in 历险记 ('adventure story') and similar narrative contexts.

verb
to go through adventuresto have adventuresto have a narrow escapeto experience danger

Examples

  • 历险。
    Tā men jué dìng qù lì xiǎn.
    They decided to go on an adventure.
  • ，。
    Tā qù nián lì le yí cì xiǎn, chà diǎn r méi mìng.
    He had a narrow escape last year and almost died.
  • 。
    Zài shā mò lǐ lì guò xiǎn de rén dōu zhī dào shuǐ yǒu duō zhòng yào.
    People who have experienced danger in the desert know how important water is.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

历lìexperience
险xiǎndanger

“历” means to experience and “险” means danger, so the word means to go through dangers or adventures.

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 歷; 历 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 历 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (简历, 经历) it is 歷; in others (日历) it is 曆.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
止止zhǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
厤
厤lì歷lì
Same sound today

The form 歷 pairs 止 with the sound part 厤.

Open 历 →

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 險; 险 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
僉
僉qiān險
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 險 pairs 阝, written in full as 阜, with 僉, which gives the sound; the simplified 险 is a shorthand.

Open 险 →
Appears in
Safety & Danger

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