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心愿 (xīn yuàn) — cherished desire, wish, dream

Definition

A 心愿 is a personal, heartfelt wish — often long-cherished, like a dream you carry for years. Softer than 欲望 (which carries craving) and more intimate than 愿望 (a general wish).

noun
cherished desirewishdream

Examples

  • 心愿，。
    Cóng xiǎo wǒ jiù yǒu yí gè xīn yuàn, qù shì jiè gè dì lǚ xíng.
    Since I was little, I have had a cherished wish: to travel around the world.
  • 心愿，。
    Tā shí xiàn le duō nián de xīn yuàn, kāi le yì jiā zì jǐ de shū diàn.
    She fulfilled a long-cherished dream by opening her own bookstore.
  • 心愿？
    Nǐ zuì dà de xīn yuàn shì shén me shí hou kāi shǐ de?
    When did your greatest wish begin?

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.

心xīnheart/mind
愿yuànwish

The 心 (heart/mind) and 愿 (wish) combine to mean a wish held in the heart.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
原
原yuán愿yuàn
Same sound today

愿 places 心 (heart) below 原, which supplies the sound yuán; the 心 part marks the sense of heart or feeling.

Open 愿 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Will & Intention

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