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祸根 (huò gēn) — root cause of misfortune or disaster; bane

Definition

祸根 (huò gēn) literally 'root of disaster' — used for an underlying cause that brings misfortune, misfortune often already realized or inevitable. Stronger and more literary than plain 原因; the focus is on blame-worthy origin, not neutral cause.

noun
root cause of misfortune or disasterbane

Examples

  • 祸根。
    Tān lán shì hěn duō wèn tí de huò gēn.
    Greed is the root cause of many problems.
  • 祸根。
    Zhè chǎng zhàn zhēng de huò gēn zài yú lǐng tǔ zhēng duān.
    The root cause of this war lies in territorial disputes.
  • 祸根。
    Tā yì shí dào zì jǐ de huài xí guàn shì shī bài de huò gēn.
    He realized that his bad habits were the root cause of his failure.

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.

祸huòdisaster
根gēnroot; cause

祸 names the disaster and 根 the underlying cause, so the word means root of misfortune.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 禍; 祸 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
示示shìsacrifice
Sound part声符shēngfú
咼
咼wāi禍huò
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The simplified 祸 is an abbreviation of traditional 禍, which pairs 示 (sacrifice) with 咼 to show pronunciation.

Open 祸 →

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
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
艮
艮gèn根gēn(r)
Same sound today

根 pairs 木 (tree/wood), pointing to plant roots, with 艮 as a sound part.

Open 根 →
Appears in
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