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恋人 (liàn rén) — romantic partner, sweetheart, boyfriend/girlfriend

Definition

Literary 'lover / sweetheart' (a person you are romantically involved with). Compared to 爱人, it is more romantic and literary, less used for a spouse.

noun
romantic partnersweetheartboyfriend/girlfriend
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 恋人。
    Tā zhōng yú zhǎo dào le zì jǐ de liàn rén.
    She finally found her romantic partner.
  • 恋人。
    Wǒ hé liàn rén yì qǐ qù kàn diàn yǐng le.
    My sweetheart and I went to watch a movie together.
  • ，恋人。
    Gěi nǐ jiè shào yí xià, zhè shì wǒ de liàn rén.
    Let me introduce you — this is my boyfriend/girlfriend.

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.

恋liànlove
人rénperson

恋 names loving and 人 names a person, together meaning a person in a loving relationship.

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 戀; 恋 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
䜌
䜌䜌戀liàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 戀 pairs 心 (heart) with 䜌 as a sound part; 恋 is a later simplified form.

Open 恋 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
Romance & Marriage

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