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理会 (lǐ huì) — to pay attention to; to take notice of (often used in the negative); to understand; to comprehend

Definition

理会 often appears in the negative ('不理会') to mean ignoring or brushing someone off. For positive 'understand', 理解 or 领会 are more natural; 理会 here is closer to 'take note of'.

verb
to pay attention toto take notice of (often used in the negative)to understandto comprehend

Examples

  • 理会。
    Tā cóng lái bù lǐ huì bié rén de pī píng.
    He never pays attention to others' criticism.
  • 理会。
    Wǒ wán quán lǐ huì le tā de yì si.
    I fully understood his meaning.
  • 理会。
    Nǐ lǐ huì yí xià tā de xiǎng fǎ.
    Try to take note of his thoughts.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

理lǐattend to
会huìunderstand

Both 理 and 会 involve grasping or attending to something, so 理会 means to notice or understand.

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
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
里
里lǐ理lǐ
Same sound today

理 pairs 玉 (jade) with 里, which shows how to say it; the jade part points to the old sense of polishing jade.

Open 理 →

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Thinking & Cognition

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