欢度 (huān dù) — to spend (an occasion) joyfully, to celebrate

Definition

A formal verb used in writing and announcements to mean 'to celebrate / spend joyfully' (holidays, festivals). It is more literary and ceremonial than 庆祝, which is the everyday word for 'to celebrate' across occasions.

verb
to spend (an occasion) joyfullyto celebrate

Examples

  • 欢度。
    Wǒ men quán jiā yì qǐ huān dù chūn jié.
    Our whole family celebrates the Spring Festival together.
  • ，欢度。
    Jīn nián guó qìng jié, dà jiā huān dù dé shí fēn yú kuài.
    This National Day, everyone celebrated very happily.
  • 欢度。
    Rén men yòng gè zhǒng fāng shì huān dù zhè ge měi hǎo de jié rì.
    People celebrate this wonderful festival in various ways.

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.

欢huānjoyfully
度dùspend

“欢” gives the joyful mood and “度” means to spend time, so the word is to spend an occasion joyfully.

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 歡; 欢 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
欠欠qiàn
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn歡huān
Same sound today

The traditional form 歡 uses 雚 for the sound and 欠 for the meaning; the simplified 欢 is a later shorthand, so its parts do not carry that history.

Open 欢 →

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
又又yòuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
石
石shí度dù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

度 has 又 (hand) and a changed form of 石; 石 gives a related sound, and the hand is tied to using the hand as a reference for measurement.

Open 度 →

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