增光 (zēng guāng) — to add luster to; to bring honor to; to glorify (formal)

Definition

Formal verb meaning to bring honor or glory to (a family, school, or country). Almost always used with 为 wèi to show who is honored.

verb
to add luster toto bring honor toto glorify (formal)

Examples

  • ，增光。
    Wǒ yào nǔ lì xué xí, wèi fù mǔ zēng guāng.
    I want to study hard and bring honor to my parents.
  • 增光。
    Tā de chéng jiù wèi xué xiào zēng guāng bù shǎo.
    His achievements added a lot of luster to the school.
  • 增光。
    Zhè cì bǐ sài shèng lì wèi guó zēng guāng.
    This competition victory brought glory to the country.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

增zēngadd
光guāngluster

增 adds and 光 is luster, together meaning to bring honor.

Characters in this word

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
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
曾
曾céng增zēng
Same sound today

增 uses 土 (earth) to show that things grow in earth or are built from earth, and uses 曾 for the sound. This gives the sense of adding or increasing.

Open 增 →

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 →

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