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稀有 (xī yǒu) — rare, uncommon

Definition

稀有 means 'rare' in a neutral, descriptive sense — usually for tangible things like resources, species, or talents. Among siblings, 稀奇 adds a 'strange/curious' flavor, 珍稀 emphasizes preciousness, and 少见 is the everyday casual word.

adjective
rareuncommon

Examples

  • 稀有。
    Zhè zhǒng zì rán zī yuán zài shì jiè shàng fēi cháng xī yǒu.
    This kind of natural resource is very rare in the world.
  • 稀有，。
    Tā yǒu yì zhǒng xī yǒu de tiān fù, néng zài jí duǎn shí jiān nèi xué huì xīn yǔ yán.
    He has a rare talent for learning new languages in an extremely short time.
  • 稀有，。
    Zhè zhǒng jí bìng hěn xī yǒu, hěn duō yī shēng dōu méi yǒu jiàn guò.
    This disease is very rare; many doctors have never seen it.

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.

稀xīrare
有yǒuhave

稀 (rare) and 有 (have) together mean not commonly found.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
禾禾hégrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
希
希xī稀
Same sound today

稀 has 禾 (grain) beside 希, and 希 gives the character its sound.

Open 稀 →

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
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Quantity & Amount

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