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禁欲 (jìn yù) — to practice asceticism; to abstain from desires (especially sexual or material)

Definition

禁欲 (jīnyù) means to deliberately suppress physical and material desires, often for spiritual or religious reasons — a stronger, more self-disciplined choice than simply 'not doing' something.

verb
to practice asceticismto abstain from desires (especially sexual or material)

Examples

  • ，禁欲。
    Tā wèi le xiū xíng, jué dìng jìn yù sān nián.
    He decided to practice asceticism for three years for spiritual cultivation.
  • 禁欲。
    Zhè ge zōng jiào yāo qiú xìn tú jìn yù.
    This religion requires its followers to abstain from desires.
  • ，。
    Tā yǐ jīng jìn le yù, guò zhe jiǎn dān de shēng huó.
    He has already abstained from desires and lives a simple life.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

禁jìnrestrain
欲yùdesire

禁 is to restrain, and 欲 is desire; restraining desires gives an ascetic sense.

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
示示shìaltar
Sound part声符shēngfú
林
林lín禁jìn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

禁 has 林 above 示, an altar. The 林 part gives the sound, and the altar part connects the character to taboo or restricted matters.

Open 禁 →

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
欠欠qiàn
Sound part声符shēngfú
谷
谷gǔ欲yù
Same sound today

欲 is made of 谷, which supplies the sound, and 欠, which relates to the meaning.

Open 欲 →
Appears in
Religion & Belief

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