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相遇 (xiāng yù) — to meet, to encounter, to come across

Definition

A literary 'to meet / encounter', often for meaningful or fated meetings (这次相遇改变了我的人生). More formal and written than the everyday 遇到/遇见.

verb
to meetto encounterto come across

Examples

  • 相遇。
    Wǒ men zài jiē shàng ǒu rán xiāng yù le.
    We met by chance on the street.
  • 相遇。
    Zhè cì xiāng yù gǎi biàn le wǒ de rén shēng.
    This encounter changed my life.
  • 相遇。
    Tā men yīn gōng zuò ér xiāng yù.
    They met because of work.

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.

相xiāngmutual
遇yùmeet

相 expresses a mutual sense, and 遇 means to meet, giving meeting one another.

Characters in this word

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

In 相, 目 is an eye and 木 is a tree, showing an eye looking at a tree; this originally meant “to observe.”

Open 相 →

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
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
禺
禺yú遇yù
Same sound today

遇 combines 辶, a walking-related part, with 禺, which gives the sound. The 辶 part shows that the meaning involves walking or moving.

Open 遇 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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