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知情 (zhī qíng) — to know the facts/details of a case or situation; (formal/literary) to be grateful, to appreciate a kindness

Definition

Literary/formal verb, almost always in set phrases: 知情者 ('a person who knows the facts'), or 知情 in legal/formal contexts like 侵犯隐私权要先取得知情同意 ('informed consent').

verb
to know the facts/details of a case or situation(formal/literary) to be gratefulto appreciate a kindness

Examples

  • ，知情。
    Guān yú zhè jiàn shì, tā wán quán zhī qíng.
    Regarding this matter, he is fully aware.
  • ，知情。
    Nǐ de bāng zhù, wǒ shēn biǎo zhī qíng.
    I deeply appreciate your help.
  • ，。
    Tā duì cǐ àn zhī zhī yí bù fen qíng, bìng bù quán miàn.
    He only knows part of the facts of this case, not the whole picture.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

知zhīknow
情qíngfacts/situation

知 means know and 情 means facts or situation; together they mean knowing the details.

Characters in this word

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

An early form of 知 showed 大 (adult), 口 (mouth), and 子 (child): an adult speaking to a child to pass on knowledge. The 子 part was dropped, and the 大 part changed shape.

Open 知 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
青
青qīng情qíng
Same sound today

情 shows 心 (heart) beside 青, which gives the sound. The heart part points to feelings and inner states.

Open 情 →
Appears in
Thinking & Cognition

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