成年累月 (chéng nián lěi yuè) — year in, year out; for years on end (emphasizing continuous duration)

Definition

A formal idiom meaning 'year after year, for a very long time' — emphasizes unbroken duration. No listed siblings to contrast with.

idiom
year inyear outfor years on end (emphasizing continuous duration)

Examples

  • 成年累月，。
    Tā chéng nián lěi yuè zài gōng dì shàng gàn huó, fēi cháng xīn kǔ.
    He works on the construction site year in, year out — it's very hard.
  • 成年累月。
    chéng nián lěi yuè De láo lèi ràng tā de shēn tǐ yuè lái yuè chà le.
    The exhaustion from years on end has made his health worse and worse.
  • 成年累月，。
    Tā chéng nián lěi yuè jiān chí xiě zuò, zhōng yú chū bǎn le dì yī běn shū.
    She persisted in writing year after year and finally published her first book.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

成年full years
成chéngfull年niányear
偏正Modifier + head
累月pile up months
累lèipile up月yuèmonth
动宾Verb + object

成年 gives full years and 累月 piles up months.

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
戊戊wù
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng成chéng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

成 puts 戊, a weapon, beside 丁, which gives the sound. The weapon part relates to protection, as in the old sense of city walls.

Open 成 →

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
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 累 →

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

月 was drawn as a crescent moon, with the curved outline showing the moon’s shape.

Open 月 →

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