寒意 (hán yì) — chill; nip in the air; a cold feeling

Definition

A literary, sensory word for the 'chill' in the air or a cold feeling, often felt briefly (morning, a gust). 意 suggests a subtle, felt quality rather than measured cold — note 意 as a suffix with the meaning 'sense / atmosphere' (e.g. 春意, 诗意).

noun
chillnip in the aira cold feeling
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，寒意。
    Dōng tiān lái le, yí zhèn hán yì ràng rén rěn bú zhù fā dǒu.
    Winter has come, and a chill makes people shiver.
  • 寒意，，。
    Suī rán wài miàn yǒu hán yì, dàn wū lǐ kāi zhe nuǎn qì, hěn shū fu.
    Although there's a chill outside, the heating is on inside and it's very comfortable.
  • 寒意。
    Qīng chén de hán yì ràng wǒ duō chuān le yí jiàn wài tào.
    The morning chill made me put on an extra coat.

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.

寒háncold
意yìfeeling

寒 gives cold, 意 gives feeling, so the word means a cold feeling.

Characters in this word

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

  • 宀宀miánhouse
  • 人人rénperson
  • 茻茻mǎnggrass

寒 shows 宀 (house), 人 (person), and 茻 (grass): a person sleeping in grass inside a house to keep out the cold.

Open 寒 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 意 →

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