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旧情 (jiù qíng) — old flame; lingering romantic feelings from a past relationship; former friendship; past goodwill

Definition

旧情 means 'feelings from the past' — typically lingering romantic feelings after a breakup (旧情复燃 = 'old flames rekindle'), or goodwill from a former relationship. Almost always appears in set phrases, not alone.

noun
old flamelingering romantic feelings from a past relationshipformer friendshippast goodwill

Examples

  • ，旧情。
    Tā men fēn shǒu duō nián, dàn jiù qíng hái zài.
    They broke up years ago, but old feelings still remain.
  • 旧情，。
    Tā niàn jí jiù qíng, bāng le tā yì bǎ.
    Out of their former friendship, he gave her a helping hand.
  • 旧情，。
    Liǎng rén jiù qíng fù rán, jué dìng fù hūn.
    The two rekindled their old flame and decided to remarry.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

旧jiùformer
情qíngfeeling

旧 points to former, and 情 to feelings, so 旧情 names lingering feelings from a past relationship.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 舊; 旧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
雈雈huánowl
Sound part声符shēngfú
臼
臼jiù舊jiù
Same sound today

The traditional form of 旧 is 舊, which shows 雈, an owl, above 臼, which gives the sound.

Open 旧 →

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
青
青qīng情qíng
Same sound today

情 shows 心 (heart) beside 青, which gives the sound. The heart part points to feelings and inner states.

Open 情 →
Appears in
Romance & Marriage

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