名声 (míng shēng) — reputation | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

名声 is a general word for 'reputation' — what people say about someone, often carrying a moral judgment (good or bad). More neutral and everyday than 声誉 or 声望, which lean formal/societal prestige.

noun

reputation

Examples

名声。
Tā shì yí wèi yǒu liáng hǎo míng shēng de yī shēng.
He is a doctor with a good reputation.
名声。
Zhè jiā gōng sī yīn wèi chǎn pǐn zhì liàng chà ér huài le míng shēng.
This company ruined its reputation because of poor product quality.
名声，。
Wǒ bú zài hu bié rén de míng shēng rú hé, wǒ zhī kàn shì shí.
I don't care about others' reputation; I only look at the facts.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

声shēngreputation

名 and 声 both point to reputation, together meaning one's public standing.

Characters in this word

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

夕口名

夕夕xīcrescent moon
口口kǒumouth

名 puts 夕 (crescent moon) above 口 (mouth), showing a name spoken in the dark.

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 聲; 声 is its simplified writing.

殸耳聲

Meaning part形符xíngfú

耳耳ěrear

Sound part声符shēngfú

殸

殸qìng聲shēng

Same sound today

The traditional form 聲 pairs 耳 (ear) with 殸 as a sound part; the simplified 声 is a shorthand and does not show those original parts.

Appears in

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