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庆生 (qìng shēng) — to celebrate a birthday

Definition

Formal/literary way to say 'to celebrate a birthday' — 庆 is the verb 'to celebrate' and 生 refers to a birth, so it literally means 'celebrate a birth [day]'. More elevated than everyday 过生日.

verb
to celebrate a birthday

Examples

  • 庆生。
    Míng nián tā dǎ suàn zài jiā qìng shēng.
    He plans to celebrate his birthday at home next year.
  • 。
    Zuó tiān wǒ men gěi mā ma qìng le gè shēng.
    Yesterday we celebrated Mom's birthday.
  • 庆生？
    Nǐ zhǔn bèi zěn me qìng shēng?
    How are you planning to celebrate your birthday?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

庆qìngcelebrate
生shēngbirth

庆 and 生 together mean to celebrate a birth, especially a birthday.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 慶; 庆 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 庆 comes from the traditional 慶, which pairs 廌, drawn as an antelope, with 心, a heart; the heart part showed goodness or blessing, and obtaining such a beautiful animal was worth celebrating.

Open 庆 →

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →
Appears in
Life Stages & Age

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