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烈士 (liè shì) — martyr (especially revolutionary or national hero who died for a cause)

Definition

A person honored for dying for a cause — in modern Chinese usage, almost always a revolutionary or national hero (not a religious martyr). Common in formal/official contexts like 烈士陵园 or 烈士纪念碑.

noun
martyr (especially revolutionary or national hero who died for a cause)
Measure word · 位
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，烈士。
    Měi nián qīng míng jié, xué xiào dōu huì zǔ zhī xué shēng qù sǎo liè shì mù.
    Every year at Qingming Festival, the school organizes students to visit the martyrs' graves.
  • 烈士。
    Zhè wèi liè shì wèi le guó jiā xiàn chū le zì jǐ de shēng mìng.
    This martyr gave his life for the country.
  • 烈士，。
    Wǒ men yào xué xí liè shì de jīng shén, wèi shè huì zuò gòng xiàn.
    We should learn from the martyrs' spirit and contribute to society.

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.

烈lièheroic
士shìperson

烈士 refers to a 士 (person) marked by 烈 (heroic), especially one who died for a cause.

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
灬Written in full as火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
列
列liè烈liè
Same sound today

烈 pairs 列 for the sound with 灬, a form of 火 (fire).

Open 烈 →

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

The shape 士 comes from a simple drawing of a war axe. The character later came to mean a soldier, officer, or intellectual.

Open 士 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9History

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