开花 (kāi huā) — to bloom, to blossom (of flowers); (fig.) to bu…

Definition

开花 means a flower literally blooms. Use it for plants only — for figurative 'bloom/burst forth' (feelings, faces), 绽放 (HSK 7) is the literary alternative.

verb

to bloomto blossom (of flowers)(fig.) to burst forthto split opento flourish

Examples

，开花。
Chūn tiān lái le, hěn duō huā dū yào kāi huā le.
Spring has come, and many flowers are about to bloom.
。
Zhè kē shù jīn nián zhī kāi guò yí cì huā.
This tree only bloomed once this year.
开花。
Tā de liǎn shàng xiàng kāi huā yí yàng kāi xīn.
His face lit up with joy as if a flower had blossomed.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

开kāiopen

花huāflower

开 means to open or burst out and 花 means flower; together they describe a flower opening into bloom.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

門一廾開

門門méndoor
一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →

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

艹化花

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

化

化huà花

Same sound today

花 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 化, which gives the sound.

Open 花 →

Appears in