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性爱 (xìng ài) — sexual love, sex (lovemaking)

Definition

noun
sexual lovesex (lovemaking)

Examples

  • 。
    Zhè běn xìng ài jiào yù shū xiě dé hěn kē xué.
    This sex education book is very scientific.
  • 性爱。
    Jiàn kāng de xìng ài shì fū qī guān xì de zhòng yào bù fen.
    Healthy sex is an important part of a married couple's relationship.
  • 性爱。
    Tā men zài yán jiū zhōng tǎo lùn le xìng ài duì rén lèi xīn lǐ de yǐng xiǎng.
    In the research they discussed the impact of sex on human 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.

性xìngsex
爱àilove

The senses of sex and love combine to mean sexual love or lovemaking.

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
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
生
生shēng性xìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

性 is built from 忄 (the heart) and 生 (a sound clue). The heart part connects the word to a person's inner nature or quality.

Open 性 →

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 愛; 爱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
旡
旡jì愛ài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For the traditional form 愛, an older shape paired 心 (heart) with 旡 as its sound part; later a foot-like 夊 was added below. The simplified 爱 is a later variant that replaces the lower part with 友.

Open 爱 →
Appears in
Romance & Marriage5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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