TongTong
Sign in

挚爱 (zhì ài) — true love; deep, sincere love

Definition

挚爱 (zhì'ài) means sincere, deep, devoted love — stronger and more literary than 爱情 ('romantic love' in general). Often used as a title or honorific for a beloved person.

noun
true lovedeepsincere love

Examples

  • 挚爱。
    Tā shì tā yì shēng de zhì ài.
    She is the true love of his life.
  • 挚爱。
    Zhè běn shū biǎo dá le duì mǔ qīn de zhì ài.
    This book expresses a deep love for one's mother.
  • 挚爱。
    Tā men zhī jiān de zhì ài gǎn dòng le suǒ yǒu rén.
    The true love between them moved everyone.

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.

挚zhìdeep and sincere
爱àilove

挚 means deep and sincere, and 爱 means love, so deep love.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 摯; 挚 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
執
執zhí摯⁰zhì
Same sound today

The traditional form 摯 pairs 執 for the sound with 手 for hand; the simplified 挚 is a later abbreviation, so its parts are not the original shape.

Open 挚 →

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 & Marriage

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.