重任 (zhòng rèn) — heavy responsibility, important task | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

重任 is a 'heavy' or crucial task/responsibility — more emphatic than plain 责任, implying weight and importance, not everyday duties or blame.

noun

heavy responsibilityimportant task

Examples

重任。
Tā jiān fù zhe guó jiā fā zhǎn de zhòng rèn.
He shoulders the heavy responsibility of national development.
重任，。
Zhè cì rèn wu shì gè zhòng rèn, nǐ yào rèn zhēn duì dài.
This mission is an important task; you must take it seriously.
重任。
Gōng sī bǎ zhè xiàng zhòng rèn jiāo gěi le wǒ.
The company entrusted this heavy responsibility to me.

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.

任rènresponsibility

重 (heavy) and 任 (responsibility) combine to mean a heavy responsibility.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

東

東dōng重zhòng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

重 developed from a picture of a man carrying a bag, with 人 for the man and 東 for the bag; a later ground element was folded into the form.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

亻壬任

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

壬

壬rén任rèn

Same sound today

任 pairs 亻, a person, with 壬, which may picture a shoulder pole turned sideways.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Abstract Concepts

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