宿敌 (sù dí) — long-standing enemy, arch rival; (by extension) nemesis, sworn enemy

Definition

宿敌 (sùdí) means a long-standing, deeply entrenched enemy — the 'arch' in 'arch rival'. Implies a history of repeated conflict, stronger than 敌人 alone, which is any opponent.

noun
long-standing enemyarch rival(by extension) nemesissworn enemy
Easily confused

Examples

  • 宿敌，。
    Zhè liǎng zhī qiú duì shì sù dí, měi cì bǐ sài dōu hěn jī liè.
    These two teams are arch rivals; every match is very intense.
  • 宿敌，。
    Tā men zài lì shǐ shàng céng shì sù dí, xiàn zài yǐ hé jiě.
    They were long-standing enemies in history, but have now reconciled.
  • 宿敌，。
    Tā shì nà ge rén wéi zì jǐ de sù dí, yì xīn yào dǎ bài tā.
    He regards that person as his sworn enemy and is determined to defeat him.

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.

宿sùlong-standing
敌díenemy

“宿” means long-standing and “敌” means enemy, together giving an old enemy.

Characters in this word

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

  • 人人rénperson
  • 囗囗wéibamboo mat

The shape comes from an old drawing of 人, a person, resting on a mat.

Open 宿 →

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 敵; 敌 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
攴攴pūto tap; to hit
Sound part声符shēngfú
啻
啻chì敵dí
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 敵 pairs 啻 as a sound part with 攴, a part for tapping or hitting.

Open 敌 →

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