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忌日 (jì rì) — anniversary of a death (of a family member or respected person); day of mourning

Definition

忌日 (jìrì) is the death anniversary of a deceased family member or respected person, observed by visiting the grave and avoiding festive activities. It refers to the annual remembrance day itself, not the broader memorial customs.

noun
anniversary of a death (of a family member or respected person)day of mourning
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 忌日，。
    Jīn tiān shì yé ye de jì rì, wǒ men quán jiā dōu qù sǎo mù le.
    Today is Grandpa's death anniversary; our whole family went to sweep the tomb.
  • ，忌日。
    Zài zhōng guó wén huà zhōng, jì rì zhè yì tiān bù yí jǔ bàn xǐ qìng huó dòng.
    In Chinese culture, on the death anniversary one should not hold festive events.
  • 忌日，。
    Měi nián fù qīn de jì rì, tā dōu huì mò mò liú lèi.
    Every year on his father's death anniversary, he silently sheds tears.

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.

忌jìtaboo/mourning
日rìday

忌 means taboo or mourning, 日 means day; together denote a day of mourning.

Characters in this word

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
己
己jǐ忌jì
Same sound today

忌 combines 己, which gives the sound, with 心, the heart, as the part connected to the meaning.

Open 忌 →

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

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

Open 日 →
Appears in
Family & KinshipReligion & Belief

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