慕名 (mù míng) — to admire (someone) because of their reputation; to be drawn by fame

Definition

慕名 means 'drawn by someone's fame' — usually phrased as 慕名而来 ('come because of one's reputation') or 慕名已久 ('long admired by reputation'). It describes the visitor's motive, not admiration of the person directly.

verb
to admire (someone) because of their reputationto be drawn by fame

Examples

  • 慕名，。
    Wǒ mù míng yǐ jiǔ, jīn tiān zhōng yú jiàn dào nín le.
    I've admired you for a long time because of your reputation, and today I finally meet you.
  • ，。
    Tā mù zhè wèi zuò jiā de míng, zhuān chéng lái bài fǎng.
    He admired this writer's reputation and made a special trip to visit.
  • ，。
    Hěn duō rén mù míng ér lái, xiǎng yì dǔ dà shī de fēng cǎi.
    Many people came because of his reputation, wanting to see the master's elegance.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

慕mùadmire
名míngname/reputation

慕 means to admire, and 名 is reputation, so one admires a person's fame.

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
㣺Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
莫
莫mò慕mù
Same sound today

慕 combines 莫 for the sound with the lower 㣺, a form of 心 (heart).

Open 慕 →

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

名 puts 夕 (crescent moon) above 口 (mouth), showing a name spoken in the dark.

Open 名 →

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