敬慕 (jìng mù) — to respect and admire, to hold in high esteem

Definition

verb
to respect and admireto hold in high esteem

Examples

  • 敬慕。
    Xué shēng men dōu hěn jìng mù zhè wèi lǎo jiào shòu.
    The students all respect and admire this old professor.
  • 敬慕。
    Tā jìng mù tā de cái huá hé pǐn gé.
    She admires his talent and character.
  • 敬慕。
    Rén men duì yīng xióng chōng mǎn le jìng mù zhī qíng.
    People are filled with feelings of respect and admiration for heroes.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

敬jìngrespect
慕mùadmire

The 敬 and 慕 both express positive feelings, together meaning respect and admire.

Characters in this word

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

  • 茍茍jìkneeling person or sitting dog
  • 攴攴pūhand holding a stick, authority

敬 is possibly formed from 茍, a kneeling person or sitting dog, and 攴, a hand holding a stick.

Open 敬 →

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
㣺Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
莫
莫mò慕mù
Same sound today

慕 combines 莫 for the sound with the lower 㣺, a form of 心 (heart).

Open 慕 →

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