智勇双全 (zhì yǒng shuāng quán) — both resourceful and courageous; possessing both wisdom and bravery

Definition

A chengyu praising a person as both clever and brave — 'wise and courageous.' Used as a compliment for leaders, generals, or anyone whose good judgment is matched by bold action.

idiom
both resourceful and courageouspossessing both wisdom and bravery

Examples

  • 智勇双全，。
    Nà wèi jiāng jūn zhì yǒng shuāng quán, dài lǐng shì bīng dǎ le shèng zhàng.
    That general, both wise and brave, led the soldiers to victory.
  • ，智勇双全。
    Xiǎng yào zài shāng jiè chéng gōng, xū yào zhì yǒng shuāng quán de rén.
    To succeed in the business world, you need people who are both smart and courageous.
  • 智勇双全，。
    Tā shì gōng sī lǐ zhì yǒng shuāng quán de lǐng dǎo zhě, dà jiā dōu hěn jìng pèi.
    He is a leader in the company who is both wise and courageous, and everyone admires him.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

智勇wisdom and courage
智zhìwisdom勇yǒngcourage
联合Side by side
双全both complete
双shuāngboth全quáncomplete
偏正Modifier + head

智 and 勇 are wisdom and courage, and 双全 says both are complete.

Characters in this word

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

The early form 智 used 大 (adult), 口 (mouth), and 子 (child): an adult speaking to pass knowledge to a child.

Open 智 →

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
力力lìstrong
Sound part声符shēngfú
甬
甬yǒng勇yǒng
Same sound today

勇 pairs 甬, which gives the sound, with 力, a strength part, to mean brave and strong.

Open 勇 →

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

双 is made of two 又 parts side by side. Repeating 又 gives the sense of a pair.

Open 双 →

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

The shape puts 入 together with 玉 to show a whole piece of jade, so it means complete or whole.

Open 全 →

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