私欲 (sī yù) — selfish desire; greed | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A formal, written term for selfish desire or greed, often with a moral or philosophical tone (e.g. in ethics, religion, or classical writing). Stronger and more literary than everyday words like 欲望.

noun

selfish desiregreed

Examples

私欲，。
Tā wèi le mǎn zú sī yù, bù xī sǔn hài tā rén lì yì.
He didn't hesitate to harm others' interests to satisfy his selfish desires.
私欲。
Zhēn zhèng de xiū xíng xū yào fàng xià sī yù.
True spiritual practice requires letting go of selfish desires.
私欲。
sī yù Huì méng bì rén de liáng zhī.
Selfish desire can blind a person's conscience.

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.

私sīselfish

欲yùdesire

私 gives selfish and 欲 gives desire; together they mean selfish desire.

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.

禾厶私

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

厶

厶sī私sī

Same sound today

私 combines 禾 and 厶; 厶 originally represented the word, and 禾 was added later.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

谷欠欲

Meaning part形符xíngfú

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.

Appears in

Abstract Concepts

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