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心理 (xīn lǐ) — psychology (as a field or discipline); mentality, psychological state

Definition

心理 is the abstract noun for the field of psychology or a person's underlying mental state/mentality. For everyday 'mood' use 心情; 心态 is closer to 'attitude'.

noun
psychology (as a field or discipline)mentalitypsychological state
Measure word · 门
Easily confused

Examples

  • 心理。
    Tā dà xué zhuān yè shì xīn lǐ.
    His university major is psychology.
  • 心理。
    Nǐ yào xué huì tiáo zhěng zì jǐ de xīn lǐ.
    You need to learn to adjust your own mentality.
  • 心理。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī hěn zhòng shì yuán gōng xīn lǐ.
    This company places great importance on employee psychology.

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xīnmind
理lǐprinciple

心 gives the mind or heart, and 理 gives principle or pattern, naming the workings of the mind.

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
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
里
里lǐ理lǐ
Same sound today

理 pairs 玉 (jade) with 里, which shows how to say it; the jade part points to the old sense of polishing jade.

Open 理 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Mental Health2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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