TongTong
Sign in

品性 (pǐn xìng) — moral character

Definition

noun
moral character

Examples

  • 品性，。
    Tā de pǐn xìng hěn hǎo, dà jiā dōu xìn rèn tā.
    His moral character is very good; everyone trusts him.
  • 品性。
    Cóng xiǎo jiù yào péi yǎng liáng hǎo de pǐn xìng.
    One should cultivate good moral character from a young age.
  • 品性。
    Yí gè rén de pǐn xìng jué dìng le tā néng zǒu duō yuǎn.
    A person's moral character determines how far they can go.

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/quality
性xìngnature

品 quality and 性 nature are parallel, together giving moral character.

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
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
生
生shēng性xìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

性 is built from 忄 (the heart) and 生 (a sound clue). The heart part connects the word to a person's inner nature or quality.

Open 性 →
Appears in
Personality & Traits

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.