深夜 (shēn yè) — very late at night, the dead of night | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

深夜 is the 'deep/dead of night' — later and darker than 夜晚 and 半夜, and later than 凌晨 (which points to the small hours after midnight toward dawn).

noun

very late at nightthe dead of night

Examples

深夜。
Tā měi tiān shēn yè cái huí jiā.
He goes home very late every night.
深夜，。
shēn yè De shí hou, jiē shàng jī hū méi yǒu xíng rén.
During the dead of night, there are almost no pedestrians on the street.
深夜，。
Tā xǐ huan zài shēn yè dú shū, yīn wèi hěn ān jìng.
She likes to read very late at night because it's very quiet.

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.

The idea of deep with the idea of night forms the late part of night.

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

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

𥥍

𥥍𥥍深shēn

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

深 is built from 氵, the side form of 水 “water”, and 𥥍, which supplies the sound.

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

夕夕xīmoon

Sound part声符shēngfú

亦

亦yì夜yè

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

The form 夜 pairs 亦 as a sound part with 夕 as a moon part, for night. In the modern shape, the 亦 part is broken up and one stroke merges into 夕.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 Time of Day

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