窥见 (kuī jiàn) — to catch a glimpse of; to detect, to perceive (something hidden or not obvious)

Definition

verb
to catch a glimpse ofto detectto perceive (something hidden or not obvious)

Examples

  • 窥见。
    Wǒ tòu guò mén fèng kuī jiàn le tā de liǎn.
    I caught a glimpse of his face through the crack in the door.
  • 窥见。
    Cóng zhè xiē jì xiàng kě yǐ kuī jiàn jú shì de biàn huà.
    From these signs, one can detect the changes in the situation.
  • 窥见。
    Tā zài rén qún zhōng kuī jiàn le yí gè shú xi de shēn yǐng.
    He caught a glimpse of a familiar figure in the crowd.

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.

窥kuīpeek
见jiànsee

窥 (peek) shows how the seeing happens, so 窥见 means to catch a glimpse of something.

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 窺; 窥 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
穴穴xué
Sound part声符shēngfú
規
規guī窺kuī
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 窺 puts 穴 (hole) beside 規, which gives the sound; the simplified 窥 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical components.

Open 窥 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 見; 见 is its simplified writing.

  • 目目mùeye
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The traditional form 見 pairs 目 (eye) with 卩 (kneeling person), showing a kneeling figure with a large eye for a head. The simplified 见 is a later shorthand.

Open 见 →

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