信念 (xìn niàn) — faith; belief; conviction

Definition

信念 is a deep, firmly-held belief — more serious than 信心 ('confidence') and inner rather than religious like 信仰.

noun

faithbeliefconviction

信念。
Tā cóng wèi dòng yáo guò zì jǐ de xìn niàn.
He never wavered in his convictions.
信念。
Wǒ men bào zhe jiān dìng de xìn niàn yíng jiē tiǎo zhàn.
We embrace challenges with firm faith.
信念。
Zhè zhǒng xìn niàn zhī chēng tā zǒu guò le zuì jiān nán de shí qī.
This belief sustained her through the hardest times.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéSide by side

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

信xìntrust; belief

念niànthought; conviction

信 and 念 both carry the sense of holding something in mind, and together they express a firm belief or conviction.

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

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.

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

亼心念

念 combines 今, an upside-down mouth, with 心, the heart, to listen to one's heart.

Appears in