日安 (rì ān) — good day, hello (polite daytime greeting); aloh…

Definition

Literary/formal greeting meaning 'good day', used mostly in writing or stylized speech. In everyday conversation, 你好 is the standard 'hello'.

interjection

good dayhello (polite daytime greeting)alohag'day (used as an exotic or culturally-specific greeting)

日安。
Péng you jiàn miàn shí shuō le yī shēng rì ān.
My friend said 'hi' when we met.
，日安。
Zài xià wēi yí, dà jiā cháng yòng rì ān dǎ zhāo hu.
In Hawaii, people often greet each other with 'aloha'.
日安。
Lǎo shī yí jìn jiào shì jiù xiàng wǒ men shuō rì ān.
The teacher greeted us with 'good day' as soon as she entered the classroom.

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.

'日' (day) and '安' (peace) combine as a greeting wishing a peaceful day.

Characters in this word

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

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

宀女安

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀mián

Sound part声符shēngfú

女

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

In 安, 宀 sits above a seated 女 on a cushion; 宀 is the meaning part, 女 is the sound part, and the character originally meant sitting at ease.

Appears in