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心底 (xīn dǐ) — the bottom of one's heart; innermost feelings

Definition

心底 emphasizes the deepest, innermost layer of feeling — what someone truly holds in their heart. More emphatic and 'bottom-most' than 心里 (general inner thoughts) and more emotional than 内心 (inner self).

noun
the bottom of one's heartinnermost feelings

Examples

  • 心底。
    Tā yǒng yuǎn zài wǒ xīn dǐ.
    She is forever in the bottom of my heart.
  • 心底。
    Zhè shì tā de xīn dǐ huà.
    These are his heartfelt words.
  • 心底。
    Tā de xīn dǐ yǒu yí gè mì mì.
    There is a secret in the bottom of his heart.

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.

心xīnheart
底dǐbottom

The 心 heart and its 底 bottom together point to the innermost feelings.

Characters in this word

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 →

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
广广guǎngbuilding
Sound part声符shēngfú
氐
氐dī底dǐ
Same sound today

底 pairs 广 (building) with 氐, pointing to the bottom or foundation of a building. Some read 氐 as a bowing figure or tree root, adding a sense of 'down'.

Open 底 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Emotions & Feelings

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.