身心健康 (shēn xīn jiàn kāng) — physically and mentally healthy; sound in body and mind

Definition

A set phrase meaning 'healthy in both body and mind' — combines 身 (body) and 心 (mind) with 健康 (healthy). Used to describe a person's overall well-being.

verb
physically and mentally healthysound in body and mind

Examples

  • 身心健康。
    Bǎo chí shēn xīn jiàn kāng fēi cháng zhòng yào.
    Maintaining physical and mental health is very important.
  • 身心健康。
    Gōng sī guān xīn yuán gōng de shēn xīn jiàn kāng.
    The company cares about employees' physical and mental health.
  • ，身心健康。
    Tā měi tiān yùn dòng, suǒ yǐ shēn xīn jiàn kāng hěn hǎo.
    He exercises every day, so he is very healthy in body and mind.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

身心body and mind
身shēnbody心xīnmind
联合Side by side
健康healthy
健jiànhealthy康kāngwell
联合Side by side

身心 (body and mind) is described as 健康 (healthy), meaning sound in body and mind.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 身 comes from a drawing of a pregnant woman.

Open 身 →

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
建
建jiàn健jiàn
Same sound today

The left part 亻 depicts a person, and the right part 建 gives the sound.

Open 健 →

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

康 pairs 庚 (threshing tools) with 米 (rice), showing rice being processed into chaff.

Open 康 →

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