年礼 (nián lǐ) — New Year's gift (given during Chinese New Year / Spring Festival)

Definition

A gift specifically given during Chinese New Year / Spring Festival, typically between family, elders, or business partners. 礼 here is the same "gift" sense as 礼物, but 年礼 is a fixed term tied to the holiday rather than everyday giving.

noun
New Year's gift (given during Chinese New Year / Spring Festival)
Measure word · 份

Examples

  • 年礼。
    Wǒ sòng le yí fèn nián lǐ gěi fù mǔ.
    I gave a New Year's gift to my parents.
  • 年礼。
    Měi nián chūn jié wǒ dōu huì shōu dào hěn duō nián lǐ.
    Every Spring Festival I receive many New Year's gifts.
  • 年礼。
    Zhè jiā diàn mài de nián lǐ hěn jīng zhì.
    The New Year's gifts sold at this shop are very exquisite.

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.

年niánNew Year
礼lǐgift

The gift is tied to the New Year: 年 points to the season and 礼 to the present.

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
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →

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 禮; 礼 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
礻Written in full as示shìaltar
Sound part声符shēngfú
豊
豊lǐ禮lǐ
Same sound today

The traditional form 禮 pairs 礻 (altar) with 豊, a sound part, for performing rites at the altar; the simplified 礼 is a later shorthand.

Open 礼 →

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