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慈善 (cí shàn) — charitable; benevolent

Definition

Refers to organized giving and helping others, especially through donations or foundations (慈善基金). Differs from 仁慈 (a personal quality of mercy) and 慈祥 (a kind appearance, typically of elders).

adjective
charitablebenevolent

Examples

  • 慈善。
    Tā yì zhí xiǎng zuò cí shàn gōng zuò.
    She has always wanted to do charitable work.
  • 慈善？
    Zhè cì juān kuǎn shì cí shàn xìng zhì de ma?
    Is this donation of a charitable nature?
  • 慈善。
    cí shàn Jī jīn huì de xiàng mù bāng zhù le xǔ duō rén.
    The charitable foundation's projects helped many people.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

慈cíloving kindness
善shàngoodness

慈 gives loving kindness, and 善 gives goodness and benevolence.

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
茲
茲zī慈cí
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

慈 has 心 (heart) below 茲, which gives its sound; the heart shows the character relates to feelings such as kindness and love.

Open 慈 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

An earlier form of 善 joined 羊, a sheep linked with goodness or beauty, and 誩, described as a wrangle; the reference says this meaning link is hard to understand.

Open 善 →
Appears in
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