怒放 (nù fàng) — to be in full bloom; to be wild with joy (often in 心花怒放)

Definition

Literary verb meaning flowers blooming in full force — 'in full bloom, bursting open'. Often used in the set phrase 心花怒放 ('wild with joy, heart bursting with happiness').

verb
to be in full bloomto be wild with joy (often in 心花怒放)

Examples

  • ，怒放。
    Chūn tiān lái le, bǎi huā nù fàng.
    Spring has come, and hundreds of flowers are in full bloom.
  • ，。
    Tīng dào zhè ge hǎo xiāo xi, tā zhēn shì xīn huā nù fàng.
    Hearing this good news, he was simply wild with joy.
  • 怒放。
    Huā yuán lǐ de méi gui zhèng zài jìn qíng nù fàng.
    The roses in the garden are blooming freely.

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.

怒nùvigorous
放fàngopen

怒 gives the sense of vigorous intensity and 放 means open, describing full bloom.

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
奴
奴nú怒nù
Same sound today

怒 pairs 心 (heart) with 奴, which is used for its sound rather than its meaning of slave.

Open 怒 →

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
攵Written in full as攴pūhand, action
Sound part声符shēngfú
方
方fāng放fàng
Same sound today

放 uses 方 for its sound and 攵, a hand/action part, to mark an action of release.

Open 放 →

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