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相见 (xiāng jiàn) — to meet (in person; formal/literary)

Definition

A formal, literary way to say two people meet in person. Use in writing, speeches, or poetic contexts rather than daily speech (e.g., 见面).

verb
to meet (in person; formal/literary)

Examples

  • ，相见。
    Liǎng rén jiǔ bié chóng féng, zhōng yú zài yì jiā chá guǎn xiāng jiàn le.
    After a long separation, the two finally met at a tea house.
  • ：“相见。”
    Tā jī dòng dì shuō: "yǔ nín xiāng jiàn zhēn shì tài róng xìng le."
    He said excitedly, 'It's such an honor to meet you.'
  • 相见，。
    Zì nà cì xiāng jiàn zhī hòu, wǒ men jiù zài yě méi jiàn guò miàn.
    After that meeting, we never saw each other again.

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.

相xiāngmutually
见jiànsee

相 contributes the sense of mutual seeing to 见, giving meet one another.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In 相, 目 is an eye and 木 is a tree, showing an eye looking at a tree; this originally meant “to observe.”

Open 相 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 見; 见 is its simplified writing.

  • 目目mùeye
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The traditional form 見 pairs 目 (eye) with 卩 (kneeling person), showing a kneeling figure with a large eye for a head. The simplified 见 is a later shorthand.

Open 见 →
Appears in
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