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智慧 (zhì huì) — wisdom, intelligence

Definition

A noun for 'wisdom' — deep, often life-tested insight, not raw brainpower. Unlike 聪明 (adjective, 'clever, quick-witted') or 智力 ('raw intellect'), it implies judgment gained from experience.

noun
wisdomintelligence

Examples

  • 智慧。
    Tā yòng zì jǐ de zhì huì jiě jué le wèn tí.
    He solved the problem with his own wisdom.
  • 智慧。
    Zhè běn shū lǐ yǒu hěn duō guān yú shēng huó de zhì huì.
    This book contains a lot of wisdom about life.
  • 智慧。
    Wǒ men kě yǐ zài rì cháng shēng huó zhōng jī lěi zhì huì.
    We can accumulate wisdom in daily life.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

智zhìwisdom
慧huìcleverness

智 and 慧 both mean wisdom or cleverness, so together they mean intelligence.

Characters in this word

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

The early form 智 used 大 (adult), 口 (mouth), and 子 (child): an adult speaking to pass knowledge to a child.

Open 智 →

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
彗
彗huì慧huì
Same sound today

慧 combines 彗, which gives the sound, with 心 (heart), which gives the meaning.

Open 慧 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Thinking & Cognition5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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