梦遗 (mèng yí) — (noun) nocturnal emission, wet dream; (verb) to have a nocturnal emission

Definition

A medical/physiological term for 'nocturnal emission (wet dream)' — more clinical than 遗精, which is the formal medical term. Used in both noun and verb forms, often in health or educational contexts.

noun
nocturnal emissionwet dream
verb
to have a nocturnal emission

Examples

  • 梦遗。
    Tā yīn wèi mèng yí qù kàn yī shēng.
    He went to the doctor because of nocturnal emissions.
  • 梦遗。
    mèng yí Shì nán xìng qīng chūn qī cháng jiàn de shēng lǐ xiàn xiàng.
    Nocturnal emission is a common physiological phenomenon during male puberty.
  • 梦遗，。
    Tā ǒu ěr huì yǒu mèng yí, dàn yī shēng shuō zhè hěn zhèng cháng.
    He occasionally has wet dreams, but the doctor says it's normal.

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.

梦mèngdream
遗yíemit

梦 gives the dream setting and 遗 the emission, so the word means emission occurring in dreams.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 夢; 梦 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
夕夕xī
Sound part声符shēngfú
瞢
瞢méng夢mèng
Same sound today

The traditional form 夢 pairs 夕 (night) with 瞢, which gives the sound; its older form showed a person lying with an eye emphasized.

Open 梦 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 遺; 遗 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辶Written in full as辵chuòmove
Sound part声符shēngfú
貴
貴guì遺yí
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 遺 pairs 辶 (move) with 貴 as a sound part; the simplified 遗 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the old sound part.

Open 遗 →

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