盛赞 (shèng zàn) — to praise highly, to acclaim

Definition

盛 (shèng) here means 'lavishly, profusely' — 盛赞 is a formal, written verb for praising someone/something highly, stronger than plain 称赞 and typical of media and official prose.

verb
to praise highlyto acclaim

Examples

  • 盛赞。
    Guān zhòng duì zhè bù diàn yǐng shèng zàn bù yǐ.
    The audience heaped praise on this film.
  • 盛赞。
    Zhuān jiā shèng zàn tā de yán jiū chéng guǒ jù yǒu zhòng dà yì yì.
    Experts acclaimed his research findings as having great significance.
  • 盛赞。
    Gè guó méi tǐ fēn fēn shèng zàn zhè yí lì shǐ xìng xié yì.
    Media from various countries have all praised this historic agreement.

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shèngabundant
赞zànpraise

盛 adds 'abundant' or 'great' to 赞 'praise', giving the sense of praising highly.

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
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.

Open 盛 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 贊; 赞 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 赞 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (称赞, 赞赏) it is 讚; in others (赞成, 赞同) it is 贊.

  • 㚘㚘㚘
  • 貝貝bèimoney

This note is about the traditional form 贊. It pairs 㚘 with 貝 (money) for helping with money; the simplified 赞 is a shorthand.

Open 赞 →

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