义士 (yì shì) — righteous person; person who acts for justice (often with heroic or self-sacrificing connotations)

Definition

A 'righteous person' who acts for justice, often at personal cost — stronger and more heroic than just 好人 ('good person'), with a sense of self-sacrifice or moral courage.

noun
righteous personperson who acts for justice (often with heroic or self-sacrificing connotations)
Measure word · 位
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，义士。
    Zài gǔ dài, xǔ duō yì shì wèi le zhèng yì xiàn chū le shēng mìng.
    In ancient times, many righteous people gave their lives for justice.
  • 义士，。
    Zhè wèi yì shì bú gù gè rén ān wēi, jiē lù le zhēn xiàng.
    This righteous person exposed the truth regardless of personal safety.
  • 义士，。
    Rén men zūn chēng tā wèi yì shì, yīn wèi tā yì shēng xíng xiá zhàng yì.
    People respectfully call him a righteous hero because he spent his life helping the weak and upholding justice.

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.

义yìrighteousness
士shìperson

义 (righteousness) with 士 (person) gives righteous person.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 義; 义 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
羊羊yáng
Sound part声符shēngfú
我
我wǒ義yì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 義 has 我 giving the sound and 羊 meaning good or auspicious; the simplified 义 is a later abbreviation.

Open 义 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape 士 comes from a simple drawing of a war axe. The character later came to mean a soldier, officer, or intellectual.

Open 士 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.