要义 (yào yì) — essential points; gist; key meaning

Definition

noun

essential pointsgistkey meaning

要义。
Zhè piān wén zhāng de yào yì zài yú qiáng diào huán bǎo de zhòng yào xìng.
The gist of this article lies in emphasizing the importance of environmental protection.
要义。
Lǐ jiě fǎ lǜ yào yì duì měi gè gōng mín dōu hěn zhòng yào.
Understanding the essentials of the law is important for every citizen.
要义。
Tā zhǐ yòng jǐ jù huà jiù gài kuò le quán shū de yào yì.
He summarized the key points of the whole book in just a few sentences.

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.

要yàoessential

义yìmeaning

“要” means essential and “义” means meaning, together the essential meaning.

Characters in this word

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

要 began as a drawing of a person with both hands pointing to the waist.

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 義; 义 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

我

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

The traditional form 義 has 我 giving the sound and 羊 meaning good or auspicious; the simplified 义 is a later abbreviation.