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慰劳 (wèi láo) — to show appreciation and gratitude (often through gifts, kind words, or special treatment); to comfort and reward

Definition

慰劳 rewards people for effort or service with gifts, money, or kind treatment. Unlike 安慰 (consoling someone in distress) or 慰问 (sympathizing with those in difficulty), 慰劳 targets achievers, not sufferers.

verb
to show appreciation and gratitude (often through gifts, kind words, or special treatment)to comfort and reward

Examples

  • 慰劳。
    Gōng sī měi nián dōu huì wèi láo yōu xiù yuán gōng.
    The company shows appreciation to outstanding employees every year.
  • 慰劳。
    Lǐng dǎo qīn zì qù gōng dì wèi láo gōng rén.
    The leaders went to the construction site in person to comfort the workers.
  • 慰劳。
    Wǒ men zhǔn bèi le yì xiē lǐ wù wèi láo zhì yuàn zhě.
    We prepared some gifts to show appreciation to the volunteers.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

慰wèicomfort
劳láoreward

慰 gives comfort and 劳 gives reward, so the word means to comfort and reward those who have worked.

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xīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
尉
尉wèi慰⁰wèi
Same sound today

慰 puts 心 (heart) beside 尉 to show a feeling of comfort, while 尉 gives the sound.

Open 慰 →

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 勞; 劳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lì
Sound part声符shēngfú
𬡤
𬡤𬡤勞láo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 勞 uses 力 for the meaning and 𬡤 for the sound; the simplified 劳 is a later shortened shape.

Open 劳 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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