回顾 (huí gù) — to look back on, to review (past events)

Definition

回顾 means to look back on and survey past events (history, growth, a period). Broader and more comprehensive than 复习 (reviewing study material) and more neutral than 反思 (examining one's own mistakes).

verb
to look back onto review (past events)

Examples

  • 回顾
    huí gù Guò qù, wǒ men jīng lì le xǔ duō kùn nan.
    Looking back at the past, we experienced many difficulties.
  • 回顾
    Zài bì yè diǎn lǐ shàng, lǎo shī huí gù le wǒ men de chéng zhǎng.
    At the graduation ceremony, the teacher reviewed our growth.
  • 回顾
    Zhè bù jì lù piàn quán miàn huí gù le zhōng guó gǎi gé kāi fàng de lì chéng.
    This documentary comprehensively reviews the course of China's reform and opening up.

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.

look

回 means back and 顾 means look; together they suggest looking back over past events.

Characters in this word

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

回 comes from a drawing of a spiral, showing something turning around.

Open 回 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 顧; 顾 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
Sound part声符shēngfú
Same sound today

The traditional form 顧 combines 雇 as a sound part and 頁 as a meaning part; 顾 is the simplified form of 顧.

Open 顾 →

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