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从容 (cóng róng) — calm and unhurried; composed

Definition

从容 stresses a composed, unhurried manner in action (从容地处理 'handle calmly'); 冷静 and 镇定 focus on staying cool under pressure, while 缓慢 describes slowness of speed.

adjective
calm and unhurriedcomposed

Examples

  • 从容，。
    Tā cóng róng dì zǒu shàng jiǎng tái, kāi shǐ yǎn jiǎng.
    He walked calmly onto the stage and began his speech.
  • ，从容。
    Miàn duì tū fā qíng kuàng, tā yī rán shí fēn cóng róng.
    Facing the unexpected situation, she remained very composed.
  • 从容。
    Tā cóng róng dì chǔ lǐ le suǒ yǒu fù zá wèn tí.
    He handled all the complex problems calmly.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

从cóng
容róng

从 and 容 carry no separate meaning here; together they mean calm and unhurried.

Sound-only characters

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 從; 从 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
从
从cóng從cóng
Same sound today

The traditional form 從 pairs 辵 (walk) with 从, which gives the sound; the character was originally written 从.

Open 从 →

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
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
公
公gōng容róng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 容, the 宀 (roof) part points to holding or containing, and 公 gives the sound.

Open 容 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Personality & Traits

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