TongTong
Sign in

罗宾汉 (Luó bīn hàn) — Robin Hood

Definition

Robin Hood, the legendary English outlaw who robbed the rich to give to the poor (劫富济贫). A proper name from Western folklore — learners won't need to produce it, only recognize it in cultural references.

noun
Robin Hood

Examples

  • 罗宾汉。
    Luó bīn hàn Shì yīng guó mín jiān chuán shuō zhōng de rén wù.
    Robin Hood is a figure in English folklore.
  • 罗宾汉。
    Hěn duō diàn yǐng hé xiǎo shuō dōu jiǎng guò Luó bīn hàn de gù shi.
    Many movies and novels have told the story of Robin Hood.
  • 罗宾汉。
    Hái zi men xǐ huan tīng Luó bīn hàn jié fù jì pín de shì jì.
    Children enjoy hearing about Robin Hood's deeds of robbing the rich to help the poor.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

罗luó
宾bīn
汉hàn

罗宾汉 spells the foreign name Robin Hood; the characters carry no meaning of their own here.

Sound-only characters

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 羅; 罗 is its simplified writing.

  • 网网wǎngnet
  • 維維wéibird (tied with string)

The traditional form 羅 combines 网 (net) with 維 (a bird tied with string) to show a net for catching birds; the simplified 罗 is a later abbreviation.

Open 罗 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 賓; 宾 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèi
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡧍
𡧍𡧍賓bīn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 賓 is built from 𡧍 and 貝: 𡧍 gives the sound, and 貝 relates to the meaning. The simplified 宾 is a later abbreviation, so its parts are not the historical pieces.

Open 宾 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 汉 →
Appears in
Literature & PoetryMythology & Folklore

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