一席话 (yī xí huà) — a talk; a speech; words (said during a single conversation)

Definition

Literary way to say 'a talk' or 'what someone just said' — one sitting's worth of meaningful words, not small talk. Often used after listening to advice, a lecture, or a wise remark.

noun
a talka speechwords (said during a single conversation)

Examples

  • 一席话，。
    Tīng wán zhè yī xí huà, wǒ shēn shòu qǐ fā.
    After hearing this talk, I was deeply inspired.
  • 一席话。
    Tā de yī xí huà ràng wǒ míng bai le xǔ duō dào lǐ.
    His words made me understand many principles.
  • ，一席话，。
    Gǔ rén shuō, tīng jūn yī xí huà, shèng dú shí nián shū.
    The ancients said, 'Listening to your words is better than reading for ten years.'

Origin

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

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

席 originally showed a woven mat with an ornament. In 席, the mat became 巾, and a later sound part was written as 庶.

Open 席 →

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 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑話huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 话 →

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