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相逢 (xiāng féng) — to meet (by chance, often in a literary or emotional sense); to come across (serendipitously)

Definition

相逢 is a literary verb for meeting by chance, often with emotional or fated weight (as in 有缘千里来相逢). It is more formal and poetic than the everyday 见面, and applies especially to people meeting again after a separation.

verb
to meet (by chance, often in a literary or emotional sense)to come across (serendipitously)

Examples

  • 相逢。
    Wǒ men shì zài lǚ tú zhōng xiāng féng de.
    We met by chance during the journey.
  • ，相逢。
    Duō nián hòu, tā men zài cì xiāng féng.
    Years later, they met again.
  • 相逢。
    Yǒu yuán qiān lǐ lái xiāng féng.
    Fate brings people together from a thousand li away.

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
逢féngmeet

mutually plus meet gives to meet each other.

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 →

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
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
夆
夆páng逢féng
Same sound today

In 逢, 辶 is the walking part and 夆 is the sound part.

Open 逢 →
Appears in
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