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心术 (xīn shù) — (often negative) intention, ulterior motive, scheme

Definition

Literary noun for someone's hidden intent or scheming mind — almost always negative, as in 心术不正 ('of crooked intent'). Closer to 'ulterior motive' than a neutral 'intention'.

noun
(often negative) intentionulterior motivescheme

Examples

  • 心术，。
    Tā xīn shù bú zhèng, zǒng shì suàn jì bié rén.
    He has bad intentions and always schemes against others.
  • 心术。
    Wǒ men yào xiǎo xīn nà xiē xīn shù bú zhèng de rén.
    We need to be careful of those with ulterior motives.
  • ，心术。
    Xuǎn zé lǐng dǎo shí, yào kǎo chá tā de xīn shù shì fǒu zhèng zhí.
    When choosing a leader, you should examine whether their intentions are upright.

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xīnmind
术shùmethod

心 points to the mind or inner thoughts, and 术 suggests a way or method.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 術; 术 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
行行xíngstreet, path
Sound part声符shēngfú
朮
朮zhú術shù
Same sound today

The traditional form 術 has 行 (street, path) beside 朮, which gives the sound; the simplified 术 is a later shorthand.

Open 术 →
Appears in
Thinking & Cognition

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