盛夏 (shèng xià) — midsummer; the height of summer | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literary/formal term for 'midsummer' (the hottest stretch of the season). Unlike 暑假, it is not a vacation period but a time of year.

noun

midsummerthe height of summer

Examples

盛夏，。
shèng xià Shí jié, hé huā shèng kāi.
In midsummer, lotus flowers bloom in full.
盛夏，。
Běi fāng de shèng xià suī rán yán rè, dàn zǎo wǎn hěn liáng shuǎng.
Although midsummer in the north is hot, mornings and evenings are cool.
盛夏。
Tā men jì huà zài shèng xià qù hǎi biān dù jià.
They plan to go to the seaside for vacation in midsummer.

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.

盛shèngflourishing

“盛” (flourishing) and “夏” (summer) combine to mean the height of summer.

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.

成皿盛

Meaning part形符xíngfú

皿皿mǐn

Sound part声符shēngfú

成

成chéng盛shèng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

盛 combines 成 as a sound part with 皿 as a meaning part; the 皿 side points to a vessel, which fits meanings such as hold and fill.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

日日rìsun
頁頁yèhead; man

Some scholars connect 夏 to 日 (sun) and 頁 (head; man), reading it as a man under the sun, but this is uncertain.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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