胆量 (dǎn liàng) — courage, boldness | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

胆量 is plain, everyday 'nerve / guts' — the courage to face fear or risk, often physical (speaking up, riding a coaster). 勇气 is more about moral or principled courage; 骨气 is moral backbone under pressure.

noun

courageboldness

Examples

胆量，。
Tā hěn yǒu dǎn liàng, gǎn zài dà jiā miàn qián yǎn jiǎng.
He has a lot of courage and dares to give a speech in front of everyone.
胆量。
Wǒ méi yǒu dǎn liàng qù zuò guò shān chē.
I don't have the courage to ride a roller coaster.
，胆量。
Miàn duì kùn nan, xū yào zú gòu de dǎn liàng.
Facing difficulties requires sufficient courage.

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.

胆dǎncourage

量liángcapacity

胆 (courage) and 量 (capacity) combine to mean the amount of courage a person has.

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

⺼Written in full as肉ròubody part

Sound part声符shēngfú

旦

旦dàn胆dǎn

Same sound today

胆 combines ⺼, written as 肉 when full, for a body part, with 旦 as a sound part.

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

日日rìsun
東東dōngbag; east

量 has 日 (sun) over 東 (bag; east). Some explanations suggest measuring under the sun or the sun rising in the east, but the exact origin is unclear.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Personality & Traits

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