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忠贞 (zhōng zhēn) — loyal and steadfast, faithful (in love or duty)

Definition

Stronger and more literary than 忠诚 or 忠实 — emphasizes unwavering faithfulness under hardship, often for love, country, or principle. More everyday than 可靠, which describes general dependability, not moral devotion.

adjective
loyal and steadfastfaithful (in love or duty)

Examples

  • 忠贞。
    Tā duì qī zi fēi cháng zhōng zhēn.
    He is very loyal and faithful to his wife.
  • 忠贞。
    Rén men dōu hěn zhēn xī zhōng zhēn.
    People all cherish loyalty and faithfulness.
  • 忠贞。
    Zhēn zhèng de yǒu yì xū yào zhōng zhēn.
    True friendship requires loyalty and steadfastness.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

忠zhōngloyal
贞zhēnsteadfast

Loyalty and steadfastness together mean faithful and dependable.

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
中
中zhōng忠zhōng
Same sound today

忠 pairs 心, meaning heart, with 中, which gives its sound.

Open 忠 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 貞; 贞 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 貞 grew from a picture of a ding tripod, later changed for divination, and its lower part became unrelated to that picture; the simplified 贞 is a shorthand.

Open 贞 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Personality & Traits

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