畏 (wèi) — (bound form) fear; dread; (bound form) respect; awe
Definition
畏 (wèi) is a bound morph meaning fear or awe, used almost entirely in set compounds like 畏惧, 敬畏, and 无畏 — never standing alone.
bound form
feardreadrespectawe
Easily confused
- 喂wèilook-alike(interjection) hey! hello? (used to attract attention or answer a phone call)
- 位wèisound-alike(classifier, polite) for people
- 偎wēilook-aliketo cuddle (affectionately)
- 喂wèisound-alike(interjection) hello? (used to answer the phone)
- 未wèisound-alikenot yet; have not; did not (formal/literary negation placed before a verb)
- 味wèisound-aliketaste, flavor
Examples
- 。Tā duì wèi zhī de shì wù gǎn dào wèi jù.He feels fear of the unknown.
- 。Rén men duì dà zì rán chōng mǎn jìng wèi.People are full of awe for nature.
- 。Tā shì yí wèi wú wèi de zhàn shì.He is a fearless warrior.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
An early form of 畏 drew a ghost 鬼 holding a stick. Later, 卜 was used as the meaning part and 鬼 as the sound part.
Appears in
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