正大 (zhèng dà) — upright and honest; open and aboveboard

Definition

正大 means 'upright and aboveboard' — used for honest, open conduct or methods (e.g. 光明正大, 正大的做法). Not used for people directly without a context like 做人. Pinyin is zhèngdà, not zhēng.

verb
upright and honestopen and aboveboard

Examples

  • 正大。
    Tā zuò rén hěn zhèng dà.
    He is very upright in his conduct.
  • 。
    Wǒ men zuò shì yào guāng míng zhèng dà.
    We should do things openly and honestly.
  • 正大。
    Zhè shì yí gè zhèng dà de zuò fǎ.
    This is an upright way of doing things.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

正zhèngupright
大dàbroad or great

正 means upright and 大 means broad or great, describing open honesty.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
止止zhǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng正zhèng
Same sound today

正 pairs 止 with 丁; 止 marks the sense and 丁 gives the sound.

Open 正 →

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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