财神 (cái shén) — god of wealth (in Chinese folk religion); (figu… | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A deity from Chinese folk religion who brings wealth; commonly invoked at New Year. As a nickname it means a very rich person ("moneybags").

noun

god of wealth (in Chinese folk religion)(figurative) very wealthy personmoneybags

Measure word · 尊

Examples

，财神。
Guò nián de shí hou, hěn duō rén jiā lǐ dōu huì tiē cái shén de huà xiàng.
During the New Year, many families put up a picture of the god of wealth.
，财神。
Tā zuò shēng yi fā le dà cái, dà jiā dōu jiào tā cái shén.
He made a fortune in business, so everyone calls him the god of wealth.
财神。
Qiú cái shén bǎo yòu wǒ jīn nián cái yùn hēng tōng.
Pray to the god of wealth to bless me with good fortune this year.

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.

财 wealth and 神 god together mean a god of wealth or a very wealthy person.

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 財; 财 is its simplified writing.

貝才財

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèishell

Sound part声符shēngfú

才

才cái財cái

Same sound today

The traditional form 財 has 貝 (shell) next to 才, which gives the sound; the simplified 财 is a later shorthand.

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

示示shìgod; deity

Sound part声符shēngfú

申

申shēn神shén

Same sound today

The older form 申 drew lightning, which the ancients regarded as divine; 神 adds 示 (god/deity) to mark that meaning.

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