异心 (yì xīn) — disloyalty, treachery

Definition

A formal/literary noun for 'disloyalty' — disloyal thoughts or intent hidden behind one's actions, as in 'harboring disloyalty'. Pairs with the verb 起 (起异心) to mean 'to become disloyal'.

noun
disloyaltytreachery

Examples

  • 异心。
    Tā cóng lái méi yǒu duì péng you qǐ guò yì xīn.
    He has never been disloyal to his friends.
  • 异心，。
    Gōng sī huái yí tā yǒu yì xīn, suǒ yǐ bǎ tā kāi chú le.
    The company suspected him of disloyalty, so they fired him.
  • 异心。
    Fū qī zhī jiān bú yīng gāi yǒu yì xīn.
    Between husband and wife, there should be no disloyalty.

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.

异yìdifferent
心xīnheart

The 异 different quality of a 心 heart gives the idea of disloyalty.

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 異; 异 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 異 depicts a person with a mask 田 over the face, so the face looks different. The simplified 异 is a later shorthand.

Open 异 →

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

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