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意思 (yì si) — meaning, opinion, idea; interest, fun (as in 有意思 interesting, 没意思 boring); a symbolic token of appreciation or goodwill

Definition

意思 is the everyday, all-purpose word — 'meaning' (of a word/sentence), 'opinion', and 'fun/interest' as in 有意思. For a more specific 'idea', use 想法; for deeper 'significance', use 意义.

noun
meaningopinionideainterestfun (as in 有意思 interesting, 没意思 boring)a symbolic token of appreciation or goodwill
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 意思？
    Zhè jù huà shì shén me yì si?
    What is the meaning of this sentence?
  • 意思？
    Nǐ de yì si shì shén me?
    What is your opinion?
  • 。
    Zhè ge diàn yǐng hěn yǒu yì si.
    This movie is very interesting.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

意yìmeaning
思sīthought

意 contributes meaning and 思 contributes thought, together giving an idea.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 意 →

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
囟
囟xìn思sī
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 思, 心 (heart) points to thinking, while the top part is a changed form of 囟, which supplied the sound.

Open 思 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 2500 Most Frequent Chinese WordsHSK 2.0 Level 21000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsAbstract Concepts2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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