心理学 (xīn lǐ xué) — psychology | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

psychology

Examples

心理学，。
Wǒ duì xīn lǐ xué hěn gǎn xìng qù, suǒ yǐ xuǎn le zhè mén kè.
I'm very interested in psychology, so I chose this course.
心理学。
xīn lǐ xué Yán jiū rén de xíng wéi hé sī wéi.
Psychology studies human behavior and thinking.
心理学。
Tā zài dà xué zhǔ xiū xīn lǐ xué.
He majored in psychology at university.

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.

心理mind

心xīnmind理lǐprinciple

偏正Modifier + head

心理 names the mind, and 学 is the study of it.

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.

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.

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 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

爻爻yáo
六六liù

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

Appears in

School Subjects

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.