要闻 (yào wén) — important news; headlines | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

important newsheadlines

Measure word · 条

Examples

要闻。
Jīn tiān de yào wén jù jiāo yú quán qiú jīng jì xíng shì.
Today's headlines focus on the global economic situation.
要闻。
Zhè tiáo yào wén zài gè dà méi tǐ shàng guǎng fàn bào dào.
This important news has been widely reported across major media.
要闻。
Tā měi tiān zǎo chén dōu huì liú lǎn bào zhǐ shàng de yào wén.
He browses the important news in the newspaper every morning.

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.

要yàoimportant

News 闻 that is 要 (important).

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 聞; 闻 is its simplified writing.

門耳聞

Meaning part形符xíngfú

耳耳ěrear

Sound part声符shēngfú

門

門mén聞wén

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

In the traditional form 聞, 門 supplies the sound and 耳 is an ear; this explanation is about 聞, not the simplified 闻.

Appears in

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