投缘 (tóu yuán) — to hit it off (with someone), to be immediately…

Definition

投缘 (tóuyuán) means two people click — share chemistry and get along easily. Used for mutual rapport between people, not one person alone.

verb

to hit it off (with someone), to be immediately on close friendly terms

投缘。
Tā men dì yī cì jiàn miàn jiù hěn tóu yuán.
They hit it off right away when they first met.
？
Nǐ men liǎ tóu bu tóu yuán?
Do you two hit it off?
投缘。
Wǒ jué de wǒ men liǎ tǐng tóu yuán de.
I think we two really hit it off.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

投tóumatch/suit

投 means match or suit and 缘 means affinity, so the image is feelings matching affinity and people hitting it off.

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.

扌殳投

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

殳

殳shū投tóu

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 扌 shows a hand, and the right part 殳 gives the sound of the character.

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 緣; 缘 is its simplified writing.

糹彖緣

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糹Written in full as糸mì

Sound part声符shēngfú

彖

彖tuàn緣⁰yuán

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 緣 puts 糸 (silk) beside 彖, which gives the sound; the simplified 缘 is a later abbreviation.

Appears in