TongTong
Sign in

流行 (liú xíng) — (of disease, news) to spread, to propagate; (of fashion, music, style) to be popular, to be in vogue

Definition

流行 covers both senses: a disease 'spreads' and a style 'is popular / in vogue'. Compared with 传播 (more about actively disseminating information/ideas), 流行 describes what becomes fashionable or widespread on its own.

verb
(of disease, news) to spreadto propagate(of fashion, music, style) to be popularto be in vogue

Examples

  • 流行。
    Zhè zhǒng bìng zuì jìn hěn liú xíng.
    This disease has been spreading a lot recently.
  • 流行。
    Jīn nián zuì liú xíng de yán sè shì lán sè.
    The most popular color this year is blue.
  • 流行。
    Zhè shǒu liú xíng de yīn yuè hěn duō nián qīng rén dōu xǐ huan.
    Many young people like this popular music.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

流liúspread
行xínggo

The 流 (spread) and 行 (go) senses combine to mean moving about widely.

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
㐬
㐬㐬流liú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

流 has 水, water, and 㐬, which gives the sound. The water part matches meanings such as flow.

Open 流 →

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

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 45000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 4 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.