思潮 (sī cháo) — trend of thought, ideological trend

Definition

思潮 refers to a broad intellectual or ideological current sweeping through a society — a 'trend of thought' rather than a single idea. 思想 is the individual thought or ideology; 思潮 is the collective wave of such thought at a historical moment.

noun
trend of thoughtideological trend

Examples

  • ，思潮。
    Èr shí shì jì chū, gè zhǒng xīn sī cháo yǒng xiàn.
    At the beginning of the 20th century, various new trends of thought emerged.
  • 思潮。
    Zhè zhǒng sī cháo yǐng xiǎng le zhěng zhěng yí dài rén.
    This ideological trend influenced an entire generation.
  • 思潮。
    Tā de zhù zuò fǎn yìng le dāng shí de shè huì sī cháo.
    His writings reflected the social trends of thought at that time.

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.

思sīthought
潮cháotide

思 refers to thought and 潮 to a tide, producing the sense of a widespread trend of thought.

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
囟
囟xìn思sī
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 思, 心 (heart) points to thinking, while the top part is a changed form of 囟, which supplied the sound.

Open 思 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
朝
朝cháo潮cháo
Same sound today

潮 has 氵, the water form 水, on the left to show a water connection, with 朝 on the right giving the sound.

Open 潮 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.