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合十 (hé shí) — to put the palms together (a Buddhist gesture of greeting, reverence, or thanks)

Definition

合十 is a Buddhist gesture of pressing both palms together in greeting, prayer, or reverence — used in temples or when meeting a monk. Most common as the verb phrase 合十行礼 ('bow with palms pressed together').

verb
to put the palms together (a Buddhist gesture of greeting, reverence, or thanks)

Examples

  • ，合十。
    Tā zǒu jìn sì miào, xiàng fó xiàng hé shí xíng lǐ.
    He entered the temple and bowed with his palms together toward the Buddha statue.
  • ，合十，。
    Jiàn miàn shí, tā men hù xiāng hé shí, méi yǒu wò shǒu.
    When they met, they greeted each other with palms together instead of shaking hands.
  • 合十，。
    Nà wèi sēng rén wēi wēi hé shí, biǎo shì gǎn xiè.
    The monk slightly put his palms together to express thanks.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

合héjoin
十shíten

合 means join and 十 stands for the ten fingers; together they mean putting palms together.

Characters in this word

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

合 shows 亼 and 口 arranged as two mouths speaking together.

Open 合 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The early shape 十 was mostly a single vertical stroke, sometimes with a dot, and later gained a horizontal stroke to form a cross. For the number ten, it marked the next digit above one.

Open 十 →
Appears in
Religion & Belief

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