重温旧梦 (chóng wēn jiù mèng) — to relive an old experience; to revisit a past dream or aspiration

Definition

An idiom meaning to revisit past experiences or relive old memories, often with a touch of nostalgia. The literal 're-warm old dreams' paints the warmth of looking back on something cherished.

idiom
to relive an old experienceto revisit a past dream or aspiration

Examples

  • ，重温旧梦。
    Tuì xiū hòu tā huí dào xiǎo shí hou zhù de dì fāng, xiǎng chóng wēn jiù mèng.
    After retiring, he returned to his childhood home, hoping to relive old dreams.
  • ，重温旧梦，。
    Lǎo tóng xué men jù huì shí, zǒng xǐ huan chóng wēn jiù mèng, liáo qǐ dà xué shí guāng.
    At class reunions, the old classmates always enjoy reliving old memories and talking about their college days.
  • ，重温旧梦。
    Zài qù yí cì nà jiā kā fēi guǎn, duì tā lái shuō bú guò shì chóng wēn jiù mèng bà liǎo.
    Going to that café again was nothing more than revisiting an old dream for him.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

重温re-warm
重zhòngagain温wēnwarm
偏正Modifier + head
旧梦old dream
旧jiùold梦mèngdream
偏正Modifier + head

重温 warms again, and 旧梦 is an old dream, so the whole says to re-warm a past dream.

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
人人rénman
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.

Open 重 →

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 溫; 温 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 溫 is based on an older form 𥁕, which drew a person bathing in a container full of warm water. The simplified 温 is a later variant.

Open 温 →

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 舊; 旧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
雈雈huánowl
Sound part声符shēngfú
臼
臼jiù舊jiù
Same sound today

The traditional form of 旧 is 舊, which shows 雈, an owl, above 臼, which gives the sound.

Open 旧 →

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 夢; 梦 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
夕夕xī
Sound part声符shēngfú
瞢
瞢méng夢mèng
Same sound today

The traditional form 夢 pairs 夕 (night) with 瞢, which gives the sound; its older form showed a person lying with an eye emphasized.

Open 梦 →

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