爱惜 (ài xī) — to cherish, to treasure, to use sparingly

Definition

爱惜 (ài xī) means to value and look after something so it lasts — often paired with concrete things like food, time, or public property. 珍惜 is closer to 'cherish' for relationships or abstract value; 节省 focuses on saving resources by using less.

verb

to cherishto treasureto use sparingly

Examples

爱惜，。
Yào ài xī liáng shi, bù néng làng fèi.
We must cherish food and not waste it.
爱惜。
Tā hěn ài xī zì jǐ de míng yù.
He treasures his own reputation.
爱惜。
Qǐng ài xī gōng gòng cái wù.
Please take good care of public property.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

爱àicherish

惜xītreasure

爱 and 惜 both mean to cherish, so the word expresses treasuring something.

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.

忄昔惜

Meaning part形符xíngfú

忄Written in full as心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

昔

昔xī惜⁰xī

Same sound today

惜 has 忄, the heart, and 昔, which gives the sound. 昔 also points to the past or an ending, so the feeling is about something past.

Open 惜 →

Appears in