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忘我 (wàng wǒ) — selfless, oblivious of self (describing a state of total absorption)

Definition

忘我 (wàng wǒ) means 'selfless / oblivious of self' — a state of total absorption in what you're doing. Often used as a modifier before nouns like 境界, 精神.

verb
selflessoblivious of self (describing a state of total absorption)

Examples

  • 忘我。
    Tā gōng zuò qǐ lái cháng cháng dá dào wàng wǒ de jìng jiè.
    He often reaches a state of selflessness when he works.
  • ，，。
    Zài nà chǎng bǐ sài zhōng, tā chè dǐ wàng le yí cì wǒ, wán quán bú gù shāng tòng.
    During that match, he completely forgot himself once, ignoring the pain entirely.
  • 忘我。
    Yì shù jiā yǐ wàng wǒ de jīng shén chuàng zuò chū zhèn hàn rén xīn de zuò pǐn.
    The artist creates soul-stirring works with a selfless spirit.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

忘wàngforget
我wǒself

忘 means to forget and 我 means self, so the word describes being so absorbed that one forgets oneself.

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
亡
亡wáng忘wàng
Same sound today

忘 combines 亡, which gives the sound, with 心 (“heart”), showing the sense is about the heart or mind.

Open 忘 →

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

The glyph 我 originally drew a trident-like weapon. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write the pronoun "I", so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 我 →
Appears in
Personality & Traits

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