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重温 (chóng wēn) — to relive (a past experience, memory, emotion); to revisit (an old relationship, feeling)

Definition

'To revisit / relive' something past — an old feeling, memory, or relationship. The repeated 重 (chóng) gives it the sense of 'again'; pair it with abstract or emotional objects (旧时光, 友谊), not new experiences.

verb
to relive (a past experience, memory, emotion)to revisit (an old relationship, feeling)

Examples

  • ，重温。
    Hán jià de shí hou, wǒ chóng wēn le xiǎo shí hou kàn guò de dòng huà piàn.
    During winter break, I revisited the animated films I watched as a child.
  • ，重温。
    Tā men duō nián bú jiàn, zhè cì jù huì chóng wēn le dāng nián de yǒu yì.
    They hadn't seen each other for years; this gathering revived their old friendship.
  • 重温。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng ràng wǒ chóng wēn le xǔ duō měi hǎo de huí yì.
    This film made me relive many wonderful memories.

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.

重zhòngagain
温wēnreview

重 means again and 温 means to review or warm, so the word means to review or revive something again.

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 →
Appears in
Thinking & Cognition

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