怀旧 (huái jiù) — to feel nostalgic | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

怀旧 (huáijiù) means feeling a wistful, sentimental longing for the past. It focuses on the mood itself, while 怀念 is more about actively missing or cherishing a specific person or thing from before.

verb

to feel nostalgic

Examples

，怀旧。
Tīng dào zhè shǒu lǎo gē, wǒ bù jīn huái jiù.
Hearing this old song, I couldn't help feeling nostalgic.
，怀旧。
Kàn zhe zhè xiē jiù zhào piàn, tā fēi cháng huái jiù.
Looking at these old photos, he felt very nostalgic.
，怀旧。
Dú zhè běn shū shí, wǒ zǒng huì huái jiù.
When I read this book, I always feel nostalgic.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

怀huáicherish

旧jiùthe old

怀 (cherish) and 旧 (the old) mean to feel nostalgic for the past.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 懷; 怀 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

心心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

褱

褱huái懷huái

Same sound today

The traditional form 懷 uses 心 (heart) to show longing and 褱 for the sound; the simplified 怀 is a later shorthand.

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 舊; 旧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

雈雈huánowl

Sound part声符shēngfú

臼

臼jiù舊jiù

Same sound today

The traditional form of 旧 is 舊, which shows 雈, an owl, above 臼, which gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Emotions & Feelings

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