秋水 (qiū shuǐ) — (literary) a woman's clear, bright eyes; (in chengyu 望穿秋水) longing gaze of anticipation

Definition

A literary image meaning 'autumn waters' — clear, still, and bright — used as a metaphor for a woman's luminous eyes. It appears mostly in the set phrase 望穿秋水, meaning to gaze longingly until one's eyes wear through.

noun
(literary) a woman's clearbright eyes(in chengyu 望穿秋水) longing gaze of anticipation

Examples

  • 秋水。
    Tā nà shuāng qiū shuǐ bān de yǎn jing ràng rén nán wàng.
    Her eyes, like autumn waters, are unforgettable.
  • 秋水，。
    Mǔ qīn wàng chuān qiū shuǐ, zhōng yú děng dào le ér zi huí jiā.
    The mother gazed with longing until her eyes were worn out, finally waiting for her son to come home.
  • 秋水。
    Shī zhōng yòng qiū shuǐ lái xíng róng nǚ zǐ de yǎn shén.
    In the poem, 'autumn waters' is used to describe a woman's gaze.

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.

秋qiūautumn
水shuǐwater

The clear 水 of 秋 evokes a woman's bright, limpid eyes.

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
禾禾hégrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
𤒅
𤒅𤒅秋qiū
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape 秋 pairs 禾 (grain) with 𤒅, which gives the sound.

Open 秋 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

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