() — to urge, to promote, to hasten; (literary) to be close to; to be short (of time)

Definition

Literary verb meaning 'to urge / promote / hasten' — as in 促进 or 催促. Example 3 uses the literary sense 'close, knee-to-knee' from 促膝.

verb
to urgeto promoteto hasten(literary) to be close toto be short (of time)

Examples

  • Zhèng fǔ chū tái xīn zhèng cè cù jìn jīng jì fā zhǎn.
    The government introduced new policies to promote economic development.
  • Tā bú duàn cuī cù wǒ zǎo diǎn chū fā.
    He kept urging me to leave earlier.
  • Liǎng rén cù xī cháng tán, zhí dào shēn yè.
    The two sat knee-to-knee and talked late into the night.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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
Written in full asrén
Sound part声符shēngfú
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

促 pairs 亻 (person, written 人 when complete) with 足, which helps show its sound.

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