作乐 (zuò lè) — to enjoy oneself, to make merry

Definition

作乐 (zuò lè) means 'to make merry / enjoy oneself' — the 'lè' here is the fun/pleasure sense, not music. Read 'zuòyuè' for 'to play/compose music'.

verb

to enjoy oneselfto make merry

，。
Tā zhěng tiān zhī zhī dào xún huān zuò lè, bù sī jìn qǔ.
All he does day in and day out is seek pleasure and enjoy himself, with no thought of self-improvement.
作乐，。
Zhè xiē rén zài yì qǐ yǐn jiǔ zuò lè, shí fēn rè nao.
These people are drinking and making merry together, very lively.
作乐，。
Gǔ dài dì wáng cháng cháng yǐ zuò lè wèi lè, bú gù bǎi xìng jí kǔ.
Ancient emperors often took pleasure in making merry, ignoring the people's suffering.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

乐lèmusic/pleasure

作 means to make or do and 乐 refers to music or pleasure, together denoting making music or making merry.

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.

亻乍作

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

乍

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 樂; 乐 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 樂, 絲 (string) with 木 (wood) shows strings on a piece of wood, a musical instrument; the simplified 乐 is a later shorthand.

Appears in