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后尘 (hòu chén) — (lit.) the wake or footsteps of someone (used in the idiom 步…后尘 'to follow in someone's footsteps')

Definition

Literary noun used almost only inside the idiom 步…后尘 ('to follow in someone's footsteps,' often with a negative judgment like repeating another's mistake). Does not stand alone in modern Chinese.

noun
(lit.) the wake or footsteps of someone (used in the idiom 步…后尘 'to follow in someone's footsteps')

Examples

  • 后尘，。
    Tā bù xiǎng bù tā fù qīn de hòu chén, suǒ yǐ xuǎn zé le bù tóng de zhí yè.
    He did not want to follow in his father's footsteps, so he chose a different career.
  • 后尘。
    Hěn duō gōng sī dōu bù le nà jiā shī bài gōng sī de hòu chén.
    Many companies followed in the footsteps of that failed company.
  • ，后尘。
    Nǐ yào xī qǔ jiào xùn, bú yào bù tā de hòu chén.
    You should learn from the lesson and not follow in his footsteps.

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.

后hòubehind
尘chéndust

后 gives the sense of behind and 尘 gives dust, so the image is dust raised behind someone.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 後; 后 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 後 showed 夊 (foot) bound by 幺 (thread), a foot caught by a rope and lagging behind; the simplified 后 is a later abbreviation, and 后 also has a different meaning.

Open 后 →

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

In 尘, 小 (small) sits above 土 (earth), giving the idea of tiny bits of earth.

Open 尘 →
Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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