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末日 (mò rì) — doomsday, apocalypse; the end, final days (of a period, relationship, etc.)

Definition

末日 is 'the final days / doomsday' — usually a cosmic or apocalyptic end. In 浩劫 it overlaps with 'catastrophe,' but 浩劫 stresses the great disaster itself, while 末日 names the endpoint or last days.

noun
doomsdayapocalypsethe endfinal days (of a period, relationship, etc.)

Examples

  • 末日。
    Hěn duō rén xiāng xìn mò rì huì lái.
    Many people believe doomsday will come.
  • 末日。
    Zhè ge diàn yǐng jiǎng de shì mò rì de gù shi.
    This movie is about a story of doomsday.
  • 末日。
    Tā men de guān xì zǒu dào le mò rì.
    Their relationship has reached its end.

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.

末mòlast
日rìday

末 last and 日 day combine in 末日 to mean the final day or end.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

末 adds a mark at the top of a tree-like shape to show its tip or end.

Open 末 →

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.

Open 日 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Time (Abstract)5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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