回春 (huí chūn) — to revive; to bring back to life (often in 妙手回春); return of spring; spring's arrival

Definition

Literary verb meaning 'spring returns' or, in 妙手回春, a doctor's skill revives a patient. The revival sense is figurative, tied to that set phrase.

verb
to reviveto bring back to life (often in 妙手回春)return of springspring's arrival

Examples

  • ，。
    Zhè wèi lǎo zhōng yī zhēn shì miào shǒu huí chūn, zhì hǎo le wǒ de bìng.
    This old Chinese medicine doctor truly has skillful hands that bring back spring—he cured my illness.
  • ，回春，。
    Chūn tiān lái le, dà dì huí chūn, wàn wù fù sū.
    Spring has come; the earth returns to spring, and everything revives.
  • ，。
    Zài tā de miào shǒu zhī xià, bìng rén zhōng yú huí le chūn.
    Under his skillful hands, the patient finally revived.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

回huíbring back
春chūnspring

回 (bring back) and 春 (spring) combine to mean bring spring back, revive.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

回 comes from a drawing of a spiral, showing something turning around.

Open 回 →

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
艸艸cǎograss
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
屯
屯tún春chūn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

春 combines 艸 (grass) and 日 (sun) with 屯, which supplies the sound and is described as a swollen sprout.

Open 春 →

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