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安危 (ān wēi) — safety and danger (as a general concept, e.g., personal or national well-being)

Definition

Refers to both safety and danger as a paired concept (personal or national fate). Used in formal/elevated writing — not everyday conversation. Often paired with verbs like 关心, 置, 关系到 (the safety of...).

noun
safety and danger (as a general concept, e.g., personal or national well-being)

Examples

  • 安危。
    Měi gè lǐng dǎo rén dōu yào guān xīn guó jiā de ān wēi.
    Every leader must be concerned with the country's safety and danger.
  • 安危。
    Tā bǎ rén mín de ān wēi fàng zài dì yī wèi.
    He puts the people's safety above all else.
  • ，安危。
    Miàn duì wēi xiǎn, tā háo bú gù jí zì jǐ de ān wēi.
    Facing danger, he disregarded his own safety entirely.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

安ānsafety
危wēidanger

安 means safety and 危 means danger; together they name safety and danger as a whole.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
女
女nǚ安ān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 安, 宀 sits above a seated 女 on a cushion; 宀 is the meaning part, 女 is the sound part, and the character originally meant sitting at ease.

Open 安 →

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

  • 厃厃wěiperson on a cliff or mountain
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

危 is built from 厃, showing a person on a cliff or mountain, and 卩, showing a kneeling person.

Open 危 →
Appears in
Safety & Danger

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