复苏 (fù sū) — to recover (from illness or economic downturn);…

Definition

复苏 emphasizes a gradual return after decline — used for the economy and for nature/people waking from dormancy, not medical recovery (use 康复).

verb

to recover (from illness or economic downturn)to reviveto resuscitate

复苏。
Jīng jì zhèng zài huǎn màn fù sū.
The economy is slowly recovering.
复苏。
Bìng rén shǒu shù hòu zhú jiàn fù sū.
The patient gradually recovered after the surgery.
，复苏。
Chūn tiān dào lái, wàn wù fù sū.
Spring arrives, and everything revives.

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 means again and 苏 means revive, so something recovers and revives.

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.

彳复復

Meaning part形符xíngfú

彳彳chìwalk

Sound part声符shēngfú

复

Same sound today

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

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 蘇; 苏 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 苏 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words it is 蘇; in others it is 甦 or 囌.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艸艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

穌

穌sū蘇Sū

Same sound today

The traditional form 蘇 uses 艸 (grass; plant) for meaning and 穌 for sound; the simplified 苏 is a later shorthand.

Appears in