讴歌 (Oū gē) — to eulogize, to sing the praises of (in a formal or literary context)

Definition

A formal, literary verb meaning 'to sing the praises of' or 'eulogize' — used in writing about heroic deeds, great causes, or noble ideals, not casual praise. The object is typically something lofty: 英雄、改革、美好的生活.

verb
to eulogizeto sing the praises of (in a formal or literary context)

Examples

  • 讴歌。
    Zhè shǒu shī Oū gē le yīng xióng de zhuàng jǔ.
    This poem eulogizes the heroic deeds.
  • 讴歌。
    Rén men yòng gē shēng Oū gē měi hǎo de shēng huó.
    People sing the praises of a beautiful life through song.
  • 讴歌。
    Tā xiě le yì piān wén zhāng lái Oū gē gǎi gé.
    He wrote an article to eulogize the reforms.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

讴ōueulogize
歌gēsing

讴 and 歌 both express singing praise, so the word means to celebrate in song.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 謳; 讴 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
區
區qū謳ōu
Same sound today

The traditional form 謳 uses 言 (speech) for the meaning and 區 for the sound; the simplified 讴 is a later abbreviation.

Open 讴 →

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
欠欠qiànblow
Sound part声符shēngfú
哥
哥gē歌gē
Same sound today

The shape 歌 uses 哥 for the sound and 欠, meaning blow. It came from a form of 哥 used for singing.

Open 歌 →

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