眼福 (yǎn fú) — the good fortune of seeing something rare or be… | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literally 'eye fortune' — the luck of seeing something rare or beautiful. Almost always used in the set phrase 大饱眼福 ('to feast one's eyes').

noun

the good fortune of seeing something rare or beautifula feast for the eyes

Examples

眼福。
Zhè cì zhǎn lǎn zhēn shì ràng rén dà bǎo yǎn fú.
This exhibition really let people feast their eyes.
，眼福。
Néng qīn yǎn kàn dào zhè fú míng huà, zhēn shì yǒu yǎn fú.
To be able to see this famous painting with one's own eyes is truly good fortune.
，。
Zhè lǐ de fēng jǐng měi bú shèng shōu, ràng wǒ men dà bǎo yǎn fú.
The scenery here is so beautiful that it's a feast for the eyes.

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.

福fúfortune

眼 names the eyes and 福 names good fortune, so the word is the blessing of seeing something beautiful.

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.

目艮眼

Meaning part形符xíngfú

目目mùeye

Sound part声符shēngfú

艮

艮gèn眼yǎn

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

眼 combines 目, which is an eye, with 艮, which gives the character's sound.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

畐

畐fú福fú

Same sound today

福 combines 示 and 畐, with 示 carrying the meaning and 畐 the sound.

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.