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愿望 (yuàn wàng) — a wish; a desire

Definition

愿望 is a heartfelt, personal wish or aspiration — stronger and more goal-like than 意思 ('idea/opinion'), closer to 心愿 than to the raw craving of 欲望.

noun
a wisha desire

Examples

  • 愿望。
    Wǒ zuì dà de yuàn wàng shì qù zhōng guó lǚ yóu.
    My biggest wish is to travel to China.
  • 愿望。
    Tā duì zhe shēng rì dàn gāo xǔ le yí gè yuàn wàng.
    She made a wish over the birthday cake.
  • 愿望。
    Nǔ lì gōng zuò cái néng shí xiàn zì jǐ de yuàn wàng.
    Only by working hard can you realize your own wish.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

愿yuànwish
望wànghope

The senses of wish and hope combine to mean desire.

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
原
原yuán愿yuàn
Same sound today

愿 places 心 (heart) below 原, which supplies the sound yuán; the 心 part marks the sense of heart or feeling.

Open 愿 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 臣臣chéneye
  • 𡈼𡈼𡈼person standing on the ground

望 originally showed 臣 (eye) beside 𡈼 (person standing on the ground): a person standing up and looking off into the distance. Later 月 was added, and the 臣 part became 亡.

Open 望 →
Appears in
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