就里 (jiù lǐ) — inside story; inner details (of a matter)

Definition

Literary/formal noun for the 'inside story' or hidden details behind an event — a single written item, always follows 的 or 的/之. Far more formal and journalistic than plain 详情 or 内幕.

noun

inside storyinner details (of a matter)

Examples

就里，。
Zhè jiàn shì de jiù lǐ, zhǐ yǒu shǎo shù rén zhī dào.
Only a few people know the inside story of this matter.
就里。
Tā xiàng wǒ tòu lù le gōng sī de jiù lǐ.
He revealed the inside story of the company to me.
就里。
Zhè běn shū jiē lù le zhèng tán de jiù lǐ.
This book exposes the inside story of the political arena.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

享享xiǎng
京京jīng

An older form paired 享, a temple, with 京, a tower, showing sacrifice at a high place; in 就 the temple part was dropped and a right part for going upward was added.

Open 就 →

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 裡; 里 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 里 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (里, 里面) it is 裡; in others (公里) it is 里 or 裏.

衤里裡

Meaning part形符xíngfú

衤Written in full as衣yīclothes

Sound part声符shēngfú

里

里lǐ裡lǐ

Same sound today

The form 裡 pairs 衤 (clothes) with 里 as a sound component.