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信仰 (xìn yǎng) — (verb) to believe in (a religion); to have faith in; (noun) faith; belief; conviction

Definition

信仰 is belief as a deep, often religious conviction — a noun for one's faith or creed, not everyday trust (that is 信任 or 相信). Stronger and more ideological than 信念, which is more personal principle.

verb
to believe in (a religion)to have faith in
noun
faithbeliefconviction

Examples

  • 信仰。
    Hěn duō rén xìn yǎng fó jiào.
    Many people believe in Buddhism.
  • 信仰。
    Tā duì zì jǐ de xìn yǎng fēi cháng jiān dìng.
    He is very firm in his faith.
  • 信仰。
    Měi gè rén dōu yǒu xuǎn zé xìn yǎng de zì yóu.
    Everyone has the freedom to choose their beliefs.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

信xìnbelieve
仰yǎnglook up to

信 is believing, and 仰 is looking up to; together they mean holding something as faith.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánwords
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén信xìn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

信 pairs 人 as the sound part with 言 (words) as the meaning part.

Open 信 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
卬
卬áng仰yǎng
Same sound today

In 仰, the left part 亻 represents a person, and the right part 卬 gives the sound.

Open 仰 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Religion & Belief2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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