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冤家 (yuān jiā) — (noun) an enemy, a foe (often one fated to oppose); (noun) (traditional) one's destined lover, sweetheart

Definition

A word used in literary/traditional Chinese that means both 'fated enemy' and 'beloved' — typically an opposite-sex partner you love and resent at the same time. The phrase 又爱又恨 captures this double meaning.

noun
an enemya foe (often one fated to oppose)(traditional) one's destined loversweetheart
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 冤家，。
    Tā men liǎng gè shì duō nián de yuān jiā, yí jiàn miàn jiù chǎo jià.
    Those two are old enemies — they argue as soon as they meet.
  • ：“冤家，。”
    Tā qīng shēng xiào dào: "nǐ zhè ge yuān jiā, zǒng ràng wǒ yòu ài yòu hèn."
    She smiled softly and said, 'You, my sweetheart, always make me both love and hate you.'
  • 冤家，。
    Zhēn shì yuān jiā lù zhǎi, zài chāo shì yòu pèng dào tā le.
    What a small world — I ran into him again at the supermarket.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

冤yuānenmity
家jiāperson/household

冤家 combines 冤 (enmity) with 家 (person/household), so the word points to someone bound to you by conflict or fate.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 冤 is built from two parts: 冖, a cover, and 兔, a rabbit.

Open 冤 →

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →
Appears in
Conflict & AgreementRomance & Marriage

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