知音 (zhī yīn) — intimate friend who truly understands one's innermost thoughts; kindred spirit; person who deeply appreciates one's talents or art

Definition

知音 (zhīyīn) is a soulmate — someone who truly understands your inner thoughts or deeply appreciates your art/talent. Stronger and more literary than 'friend' (朋友); echoes the ancient story of Boya and Ziqi.

noun
intimate friend who truly understands one's innermost thoughtskindred spiritperson who deeply appreciates one's talents or art

Examples

  • 知音，。
    Tā shì wǒ zuì hǎo de zhī yīn, wǒ men shén me dōu néng liáo.
    He is my best soulmate; we can talk about anything.
  • 知音。
    Rén shēng yǒu yí gè zhī yīn jiù hěn xìng fú le.
    Having one true understanding friend in life is happiness itself.
  • 知音。
    Wǒ xī wàng néng zhǎo dào wǒ de zhī yīn.
    I hope to find my kindred spirit.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

知zhīknow/understand
音yīnsound/music

知 and 音 picture knowing music, extended to a friend who understands one's heart.

Characters in this word

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

An early form of 知 showed 大 (adult), 口 (mouth), and 子 (child): an adult speaking to a child to pass on knowledge. The 子 part was dropped, and the 大 part changed shape.

Open 知 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

音 adds a short stroke that seals the mouth-like part, showing a covered or muffled sound rather than speech.

Open 音 →

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