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品德 (pǐn dé) — moral character

Definition

品德 emphasizes innate moral character and upbringing — what someone IS as a person. Narrower than 道德 (moral principles/ethics in the abstract) and more personal than 人品, which often slips into meaning looks.

noun
moral character

Examples

  • 品德，。
    Tā de pǐn dé fēi cháng hǎo, dà jiā dōu hěn zūn jìng tā.
    His moral character is very good; everyone respects him a lot.
  • 品德，。
    pǐn dé Xū yào cóng xiǎo péi yǎng, fù mǔ yào zuò hǎo bǎng yàng.
    Moral character needs to be cultivated from childhood; parents should set a good example.
  • 品德。
    Gōng sī zhāo pìn shí yě hěn kàn zhòng yìng pìn zhě de pǐn dé.
    When recruiting, the company also attaches great importance to applicants' moral character.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

品pǐncharacter
德dévirtue

品德 joins 'character' and 'virtue' to mean moral quality.

Characters in this word

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

品 repeats the same simple shape three times, representing various objects.

Open 品 →

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
彳彳chìroad
Sound part声符shēngfú
惪
惪dé德dé
Same sound today

德 combines 彳, a road, with 惪, a component meaning virtue that also supplies the sound.

Open 德 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Personality & Traits

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