意会 (yì huì) — to intuitively understand or sense (something tacitly)

Definition

意会 (yì huì) means to grasp meaning without words — to sense or intuit what someone means or how something feels. Pairs with 不可言传 ('cannot be put into words') to form the set phrase 只可意会，不可言传.

verb
to intuitively understand or sense (something tacitly)
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，。
    Zhè ge dào lǐ zhǐ kě yì huì, bù róng yì jiě shì qīng chǔ.
    This principle can only be intuitively understood, not easily explained clearly.
  • ，意会。
    Tā suī rán méi yǒu míng shuō, dàn wǒ yǐ jīng yì huì le tā de yì si.
    Although he didn't say it explicitly, I have already intuitively understood his meaning.
  • 意会，。
    Zhè zhǒng gǎn shòu zhǐ néng yì huì, wú fǎ yòng yǔ yán biǎo dá.
    This kind of feeling can only be sensed intuitively, not expressed in words.

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.

意yìmeaning
会huìunderstand

意 supplies the sense of meaning or intuition, while 会 means to understand, together conveying tacit comprehension.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 意 →

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →

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