深交 (shēn jiāo) — to become intimate with, to develop a deep friendship

Definition

A verb meaning to develop a close, intimate friendship with someone — the deep, trusting kind of bond, not a casual acquaintance. Note the separable-verb pattern: 可插入 一下/过/了 (深交过, 深交一下).

verb
to become intimate withto develop a deep friendship

Examples

  • ，深交。
    Tā men suī rán rèn shi duō nián, dàn méi yǒu shēn jiāo.
    They've known each other for years but haven't become close friends.
  • 深交。
    Wǒ zhè ge rén hěn nán hé bié rén shēn jiāo.
    I'm someone who finds it hard to form deep friendships with others.
  • ，深交。
    Jīng guò zhè cì hé zuò, liǎng rén shēn jiāo le.
    After this collaboration, the two formed a deep friendship.

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.

深shēndeep
交jiāoassociate

深 gives depth and 交 gives association, so the word means a deep or intimate friendship.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
𥥍
𥥍𥥍深shēn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

深 is built from 氵, the side form of 水 “water”, and 𥥍, which supplies the sound.

Open 深 →

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

交 originally drew a human with crossed legs. In the modern shape, the upper part resembles a standing person.

Open 交 →

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