辉 (huī) — brightness; splendor; shine (bound form, e.g. in 光辉, 辉煌)

Definition

辉 (huī) is a bound morpheme meaning 'radiance' or 'glory' — it almost never stands alone, appearing mainly in compounds like 光辉 (radiance) and 辉煌 (brilliant, glorious).

bound form
brightnesssplendorshine (bound form, e.g. in 光辉, 辉煌)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 。
    Tài yáng fā chū càn làn de guāng huī.
    The sun emits brilliant light.
  • 。
    Zhè ge chéng shì de yè jǐng fēi cháng huī huáng.
    The night view of this city is very splendid.
  • 辉。
    Tā de chéng gōng wèi tuán duì zēng huī bù shǎo.
    His success added a lot of glory to the team.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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 輝; 辉 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
光光guānglight; bright
Sound part声符shēngfú
軍
軍jūn輝huī
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 輝 uses 光, meaning light; bright, and 軍 to give its sound; the simplified 辉 is a later shorthand and its parts are not the historical pieces.

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