眼力 (yǎn lì) — eyesight; vision; judgment; discrimination

Definition

Literally 'eye power,' 眼力 covers two senses: literal eyesight (vision) and figurative good judgment in people, antiques, or art. Example 1 uses the physical sense; examples 2–3 use the figurative 'discernment' sense.

noun
eyesightvisionjudgmentdiscrimination

Examples

  • 眼力
    Wǒ nǎi nai yǎn lì bù hǎo, xū yào dài yǎn jìng.
    My grandmother's eyesight is poor; she needs to wear glasses.
  • 眼力
    Tā mǎi gǔ dǒng yǎn lì hěn zhǔn, cóng méi kàn zǒu yǎn.
    He has good judgment in buying antiques; he's never been mistaken.
  • 眼力
    Zuò wéi lǎo shī, tā hěn yǒu yǎn lì, néng fā xiàn měi gè xué shēng de yōu diǎn.
    As a teacher, he has good judgment; he can find each student's strengths.

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.

strength

眼 is eye and 力 is strength, so 眼力 is the strength of the eyes.

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
eye
Sound part声符shēngfú
gènyǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

眼 combines 目, which is an eye, with 艮, which gives the character's sound.

Open 眼 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

力 is drawn as either an arm bending out from the side of the body or a wooden plough.

Open 力 →
Appears in

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