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血性 (xuè xìng) — courage and uprightness; strong sense of righteousness; mettle

Definition

An elevated word for 'backbone / righteous courage' — the moral grit to stand up for what's right in a crisis. Rare in daily speech; used in writing about heroic or admirable people.

noun
courage and uprightnessstrong sense of righteousnessmettle

Examples

  • 血性。
    Tā shì yí wèi yǒu xuè xìng de jūn rén.
    He is a soldier with backbone.
  • 血性。
    Tā zài wēi jī shí kè zhǎn xiàn le xuè xìng.
    She showed mettle in the crisis.
  • 血性。
    Zhè zhǒng xuè xìng lìng rén jìng pèi.
    This kind of righteous courage is admirable.

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.

血xuèblood
性xìngnature

'血' (blood) and '性' (nature) build the idea of courageous character.

Characters in this word

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

  • 一一yīdrop of blood
  • 皿皿mǐncontainer

The shape shows 一, a drop of blood, inside 皿, a container, for blood held in a sacrificial vessel.

Open 血 →

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
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
生
生shēng性xìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

性 is built from 忄 (the heart) and 生 (a sound clue). The heart part connects the word to a person's inner nature or quality.

Open 性 →
Appears in
Personality & Traits

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