痴恋 (chī liàn) — to be infatuated with; to love obsessively

Definition

verb

to be infatuated withto love obsessively

痴恋。
Tā duì nà ge nǚ hái chī liàn bù yǐ.
He is infatuated with that girl.
痴恋，。
Tā chī liàn zhe yīn yuè, měi tiān dōu yào liàn xí.
She is obsessed with music and practices every day.
痴恋。
Zhè zhǒng chī liàn ràng tā shī qù le lǐ zhì.
This kind of infatuation made him lose his reason.

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.

痴chīinfatuated

痴 intensifies 恋, giving obsessive affection.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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 戀; 恋 is its simplified writing.

䜌心戀

Meaning part形符xíngfú

心心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

䜌

䜌䜌戀liàn

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

The traditional form 戀 pairs 心 (heart) with 䜌 as a sound part; 恋 is a later simplified form.