自慰 (zì wèi) — to masturbate; to console oneself (literary)

Definition

Literal meaning 'to console oneself', but in modern usage this almost always means 'to masturbate' — a clinical/neutral term, not vulgar.

verb

to masturbateto console oneself (literary)

Easily confused

自慰。
Tā tōng guò zì wèi huǎn jiě yā lì.
He relieves stress by masturbating.
。
Tā zhǐ néng yòng huí yì lái zì wèi.
He can only console himself with memories.
自慰。
zì wèi Shì yì zhǒng zhèng cháng de shēng lǐ xíng wéi.
Masturbation is a normal physiological behavior.

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.

'自' (oneself) and '慰' (console) combine to mean comforting oneself, hence self-consolation.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

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

尉心慰

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

尉

尉wèi慰⁰wèi

Same sound today

慰 puts 心 (heart) beside 尉 to show a feeling of comfort, while 尉 gives the sound.