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新生儿 (xīn shēng ér) — (noun) newborn baby; (noun) rebirth, new life, regeneration (figurative)

Definition

Literally 'newly-born child', used for a baby in its first few weeks. Figuratively, it means a complete rebirth of something (a company, a system).

noun
newborn babyrebirthnew liferegeneration (figurative)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 新生儿。
    Zhè jiā yī yuàn de xīn shēng ér qū měi tiān dōu hěn máng.
    The newborn area of this hospital is very busy every day.
  • ，新生儿。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī jīng guò gǎi gé hòu, xiàng yí gè xīn shēng ér chóng xīn huó guò lái le.
    After reform, this company came back to life like a newborn.
  • 新生儿。
    Měi nián dōu yǒu hěn duō fù mǔ dài xīn shēng ér lái zuò jiǎn chá.
    Every year, many parents bring their newborns for checkups.

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.

新生newly born
新xīnnew生shēngborn
偏正Modifier + head
儿érchild

新生 means newly born, and together with 儿, a child, gives a newborn baby.

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.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
斤斤jīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
辛
辛xīn新xīn
Same sound today

The shape originally paired 斤, for chopping wood, with 辛 for sound. It was borrowed for its sound to write 新, so the chopping-wood parts are unrelated to 'new'.

Open 新 →

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Open 儿 →
Appears in
Life Stages & Age

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