TongTong
Sign in

复活 (fù huó) — to revive, to come back to life (literal and figurative); (religion) to resurrect

Definition

复活 focuses on returning to life or full activity after death or extinction (literal or figurative). 复苏 is the sibling for gradual recovery (economy, health), and 复兴 implies organized cultural/national revival.

verb
to reviveto come back to life (literal and figurative)(religion) to resurrect

Examples

  • 复活。
    Zhè zhū kū sǐ de zhí wù zài chūn tiān yòu fù huó le.
    This withered plant revived again in spring.
  • 复活。
    Lǎo chéng de chuán tǒng wén huà zhèng zài fù huó.
    The traditional culture of the old city is reviving.
  • 复活。
    Jī dū jiào xiāng xìn yē sū fù huó le.
    Christianity believes that Jesus rose from the dead.

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.

复fùagain
活huólive

复 means again and 活 means live, so something lives again.

Characters in this word

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 復; 复 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 复 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (复习, 恢复) it is 復; in others (复印, 复杂) (答复, 反复) it is 複 or 覆.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
彳彳chìwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
复
复fù復fù
Same sound today

The traditional form 復 combines 彳, a walking part, with 复, a sound part, to show walking back and forth.

Open 复 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑活huó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

活 is built from 氵 (water) and 𠯑, which shows the sound; 𠯑 later changed into 舌.

Open 活 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Religion & Belief5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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