荣誉 (róng yù) — honor, glory, credit (reputation)

Definition

荣誉 is honor earned through achievement or recognition — more concrete than 名誉 (reputation, which can be good or bad). Compare 光荣 (the adjective 'glorious') and 尊严 (dignity one inherently has).

noun

honorglorycredit (reputation)

Examples

荣誉。
Tā wèi guó jiā yíng dé le zuì gāo róng yù.
He won the highest honor for the country.
荣誉。
Měi gè rén dōu yīng gāi zhēn xī zì jǐ de róng yù.
Everyone should cherish their own honor.
荣誉。
Zhè cì huò jiǎng shì jí tǐ de róng yù.
This award is the collective honor.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

荣róngglory

誉yùreputation

“荣” means glory and “誉” means reputation, together naming honor.

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 榮; 荣 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mù

Sound part声符shēngfú

熒

熒yíng榮róng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 榮 pairs 木, a tree/wood part, with 熒 (yíng) as the part that gives the sound; the simplified 荣 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 荣 →

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 譽; 誉 is its simplified writing.

與言譽

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánsay

Sound part声符shēngfú

與

與yǔ譽yù

Same sound today

The traditional form 譽 puts 與 above 言 (say); 言 is the part about saying, and 與 provides the sound. The simplified 誉 is a later shorthand.

Open 誉 →