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爱心 (ài xīn) — compassion, kindness, caring attitude; charity (e.g., 爱心活动, charity event); heart shape (♥)

Definition

爱心 is caring, compassionate love for others — general warmth and charity, not romantic. 好意 and 好心 are just 'good intentions' (a thought), while 爱心 is the active caring attitude; 爱情 is specifically romantic love.

noun
compassionkindnesscaring attitudecharity (e.g., 爱心活动, charity event)heart shape (♥)
Measure word · 片

Examples

  • 爱心。
    Tā duì xiǎo dòng wù hěn yǒu ài xīn.
    She is very kind to small animals.
  • 爱心。
    Zhè ge shè qū jǔ bàn le yí cì ài xīn huó dòng.
    This community held a charity event.
  • 爱心。
    Tā zài zhǐ shàng huà le yí gè ài xīn.
    She drew a heart on the paper.

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.

爱àilove
心xīnheart

爱 means love and 心 means heart, forming a loving heart or compassion.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 愛; 爱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
旡
旡jì愛ài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For the traditional form 愛, an older shape paired 心 (heart) with 旡 as its sound part; later a foot-like 夊 was added below. The simplified 爱 is a later variant that replaces the lower part with 友.

Open 爱 →

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 5Abstract ConceptsEmotions & Feelings

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