寻常 (xún cháng) — usual, common, ordinary

Definition

寻常 is a more literary, written-sounding 'ordinary, common' — stronger in tone than the everyday 普通 and 平常. Use it for things that are unremarkable or typical, not for people or behavior (use 正常 for 'normal').

adjective
usualcommonordinary

Examples

  • 寻常。
    Tā de shēng huó hěn xún cháng.
    His life is very ordinary.
  • 寻常。
    xún cháng De rì zi guò dé hěn kuài.
    Ordinary days pass quickly.
  • 寻常，。
    Suī rán zhè shì yí jiàn xún cháng de xiǎo shì, dàn duì tā lái shuō hěn zhòng yào.
    Although this is a common small thing, it's very important to him.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

寻xúnordinary
常chángordinary

Two ideas of ordinariness, 寻 and 常, combine to mean usual or common.

Characters in this word

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

寻 is formed from 又 (hand) and 寸 (hand).

Open 寻 →

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
巾巾jīncloth
Sound part声符shēngfú
尚
尚shàng常cháng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

常 pairs 巾, a cloth, with 尚 as a sound part; the form originally referred to a lower garment.

Open 常 →
Appears in
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