求和 (qiú hé) — to sue for peace; to seek peace

Definition

求和 (qiú hé) means 'to sue for peace' — used for a defeated or losing side formally asking the opponent to stop fighting. Almost always collocates with war, conflict, or war-related contexts.

verb
to sue for peaceto seek peace

Examples

  • ，求和。
    Zhàn zhēng chí xù duō nián, shuāng fāng zhōng yú kāi shǐ qiú hé le.
    The war had lasted many years, and both sides finally began to sue for peace.
  • ，。
    Tā men xiàng dí rén qiú guò yí cì hé, dàn bèi jù jué le.
    They once sued for peace with the enemy, but were rejected.
  • ，求和。
    Wèi le jǐn kuài jié shù chōng tū, zhèng fǔ jué dìng qiú hé.
    In order to end the conflict as soon as possible, the government decided to sue for peace.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

求qiúseek
和hépeace

求 means to seek, and 和 is peace, so the word means to seek peace.

Characters in this word

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

求 began as a drawing of a centipede.

Open 求 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
禾
禾hé和hé
Same sound today

和 pairs 禾, which gives the sound, with 口 (mouth), the meaning part; the reference connects this shape to harmony.

Open 和 →

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