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福音 (fú yīn) — Gospel (Christian); good news, glad tidings, blessing

Definition

Literally 'good news' — used for the Christian Gospel and, by extension, any greatly welcome development (a cure, a new technology). More formal and literary than plain 好消息.

noun
Gospel (Christian)good newsglad tidingsblessing

Examples

  • 福音。
    Mù shī zài jiào táng lǐ xuān jiǎng fú yīn.
    The pastor preaches the Gospel in the church.
  • 福音。
    Zhè ge xīn yào de wèn shì duì huàn zhě lái shuō zhēn shì gè dà fú yīn.
    The launch of this new drug is truly great news for patients.
  • 福音。
    Shǒu jī de pǔ jí wèi piān yuǎn dì qū dài lái le tōng xìn de fú yīn.
    The spread of mobile phones brought the blessing of communication to remote areas.

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.

福fúblessing
音yīnmessage

The 福 (blessing) and 音 (message) together form glad tidings.

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shì
Sound part声符shēngfú
畐
畐fú福fú
Same sound today

福 combines 示 and 畐, with 示 carrying the meaning and 畐 the sound.

Open 福 →

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 →
Appears in
Religion & Belief

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