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自尊 (zì zūn) — to have self-respect; to respect oneself

Definition

A quality one has: self-respect, the sense of one's own worth. Less about feeling capable (自信) and more about holding yourself to a moral standard; 骄傲 can mean similar pride but often sounds arrogant.

verb
to have self-respectto respect oneself

Examples

  • 自尊，。
    Rén yào xué huì zì zūn, cái néng yíng dé bié rén de zūn zhòng.
    People must learn to have self-respect in order to earn others' respect.
  • 自尊，。
    Tā fēi cháng zì zūn, cóng bú huì zuò bù hǎo de shì.
    He has great self-respect and never does bad things.
  • 自尊，。
    Wǒ men yīng gāi zì zūn zì ài, bù qīng yì fàng qì.
    We should have self-respect and self-love, and not give up easily.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 自 →

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

The shape combines 寸 (hand) and 酋 (wine), showing a hand offering a wine vessel to express respect; some forms show two hands instead.

Open 尊 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Personality & Traits

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