大喜事 (dà xǐ shì) — a great happy event (e.g., wedding, birth, promotion)

Definition

大喜事 means 'a great happy event' (wedding, birth, promotion) — something big the whole family celebrates. Used as a set phrase: 是一件大喜事, not interchangeable with plain 喜事.

noun
a great happy event (e.g., wedding, birth, promotion)
Measure word · 件

Examples

  • 大喜事，。
    Tā men jiā zuì jìn yǒu dà xǐ shì, ér zi jié hūn le.
    Their family recently had a great happy event — their son got married.
  • 大喜事，。
    Zhè zhēn shì yí jiàn dà xǐ shì, zhí dé qìng zhù.
    This is truly a great happy event, worth celebrating.
  • 。
    Hái zi chū shēng shì quán jiā de dà dà xǐ shì.
    The birth of a child is a great happy event for the whole family.

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.

大dàgreat
喜事happy event
喜xǐhappy事shìevent
偏正Modifier + head

大 means great, 喜 means happy, and 事 means event, together giving a great happy event.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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

喜 combines 壴, a drum, with 口, a mouth.

Open 喜 →

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

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →

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