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五湖四海 (wǔ hú-sì hǎi) — all over the country; from all corners of the land

Definition

Set phrase meaning 'from all corners of the land,' emphasizing people coming from many different places. Use it for PEOPLE (friends, colleagues), unlike 四面八方, which describes directions or spatial spread.

phrase
all over the countryfrom all corners of the land

Examples

  • 五湖四海。
    Lái zì wǔ hú-sì hǎi de péng you men zài yì qǐ qìng zhù.
    Friends from all over the country celebrate together.
  • 五湖四海，。
    Tā de péng you lái zì wǔ hú-sì hǎi, suǒ yǐ dà jiā de kǒu yīn dōu bù yí yàng.
    His friends come from all over the country, so everyone's accents are different.
  • 五湖四海，。
    Zhè ge gōng sī de yuán gōng lái zì wǔ hú-sì hǎi, fēi cháng duō yuán huà.
    The employees of this company come from all over the country, very diverse.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

五湖five lakes
五wǔfive湖húlake
偏正Modifier + head
四海four seas
四sìfour海hǎisea
偏正Modifier + head

Five lakes and four seas together stand for all corners of the country.

Characters in this word

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

An older form had a crossed mark between a top bar and a bottom bar. The modern 五 keeps those bars, while the original idea is uncertain.

Open 五 →

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
胡
胡hú湖hú
Same sound today

湖 pairs 水 (water) with 胡 (hú), which gives the sound.

Open 湖 →

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

The form 四 was drawn as a nose breathing out. It later came to be used for the word four.

Open 四 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
每
每měi海hǎi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

海 pairs 氵 (water) with 每, which gives the sound. The 氵 side shows it is about water.

Open 海 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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