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四海 (sì hǎi) — the four seas (ancient geographic concept); all corners of the country / the whole world

Definition

A classical/poetic phrase for 'the whole world' — literally 'the four seas', meaning everywhere under heaven. Far more literary than just listing countries or saying 全世界.

noun
the four seas (ancient geographic concept)all corners of the country / the whole world

Examples

  • 四海，。
    Tā lái zì sì hǎi, péng you biàn tiān xià.
    He comes from all over the world and has friends everywhere.
  • 四海。
    sì hǎi Zhī nèi jiē xiōng dì.
    All men are brothers within the four seas.
  • 四海。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī yè wù tuò zhǎn dào sì hǎi.
    This company's business has expanded across the entire country.

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.

四sìfour
海hǎiseas

四 and 海 refer to the four seas around the land, so the whole word means all corners of the country or the world.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 四 was drawn as a nose breathing out. It later came to be used for the word four.

Open 四 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
每
每měi海hǎi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

海 pairs 氵 (water) with 每, which gives the sound. The 氵 side shows it is about water.

Open 海 →
Appears in
Geography & Landforms

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