爱国志士 (ài guó zhì shì) — patriot (with a sense of high ideals and sacrifice)

Definition

A ‘patriot’ with the connotation of high ideals and personal sacrifice — stronger and more literary than the plain 爱国者 (ài guó zhě), which is the everyday word for ‘patriot’.

noun
patriot (with a sense of high ideals and sacrifice)

Examples

  • 爱国志士。
    Zhè xiē ài guó zhì shì wèi guó jiā xiàn chū le shēng mìng.
    These patriots gave their lives for the country.
  • 爱国志士。
    Lì shǐ shàng yǒu hěn duō ài guó zhì shì wèi mín zú dú lì ér fèn dòu.
    History has many patriots who struggled for national independence.
  • 爱国志士。
    Zhè wèi ài guó zhì shì de shì jì jī lì le wú shù hòu rén.
    The deeds of this patriot have inspired countless later generations.

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.

爱国love country
爱àilove国guócountry
动宾Verb + object
志士person of ideals
志zhìideal士shìperson
偏正Modifier + head

“爱国” means love country and “志士” means a person with ideals, together describing a patriotic idealist.

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 愛; 爱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
旡
旡jì愛ài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For the traditional form 愛, an older shape paired 心 (heart) with 旡 as its sound part; later a foot-like 夊 was added below. The simplified 爱 is a later variant that replaces the lower part with 友.

Open 爱 →

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →

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
心心xīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
之
之zhī志zhì
Same sound today

志 has 心, the heart, below and a simplified top from 之 for sound.

Open 志 →

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

The shape 士 comes from a simple drawing of a war axe. The character later came to mean a soldier, officer, or intellectual.

Open 士 →

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