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光明 (guāng míng) — (noun) light, brightness, radiance; (adjective) bright, promising; openhearted, honest

Definition

光明 covers both 'light/brightness' and, figuratively, 'a bright/openhearted' outlook or character. 亮 and 明亮 are only the literal 'bright'; 光彩 and 光辉 add a sense of honor or glory that 光明 lacks.

noun
lightbrightnessradiance
adjective
brightpromisingopenheartedhonest

Examples

  • 光明。
    Hēi àn zhī hòu jiù shì guāng míng.
    After darkness comes light.
  • 光明。
    Tā yǒu yí gè guāng míng de qián tú.
    He has a bright future.
  • 光明，。
    Tā xīn dì guāng míng, rén rén dōu xǐ huan tā.
    He is openhearted and everyone likes him.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

光guānglight
明míngbright

'光' (light) and '明' (bright) reinforce the idea of brightness or a bright future.

Characters in this word

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

  • 火火huǒfire
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The shape 光 places 火 (fire) above 卩 (a kneeling person), showing fire over the head and the shining of light.

Open 光 →

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

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →
Appears in
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