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善意 (shàn yì) — goodwill; kindness; benevolence

Definition

A formal/abstract noun for 'goodwill, good intentions' — focuses on motive or attitude, often paired with verbs like 出于. 好意 and 好心 are the everyday spoken equivalents.

noun
goodwillkindnessbenevolence

Examples

  • 善意。
    Tā chū yú shàn yì bāng zhù le hěn duō rén.
    He helped many people out of goodwill.
  • 善意。
    Zhè ge jiàn yì shì shàn yì de tí xǐng.
    This suggestion is a well-intentioned reminder.
  • 善意。
    Duì fāng de shàn yì ràng wǒ fàng xià le jiè xīn.
    The other party's goodwill made me let down my guard.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

善shàngood
意yìintention

善 (good) and 意 (intention) combine to mean benevolent intent.

Characters in this word

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

An earlier form of 善 joined 羊, a sheep linked with goodness or beauty, and 誩, described as a wrangle; the reference says this meaning link is hard to understand.

Open 善 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 意 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Emotions & Feelings

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