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见识 (jiàn shi) — (verb) to gain experience or knowledge through personal exposure; to see and learn about (something new); (noun) experience; knowledge; insight; breadth of knowledge

Definition

见识 is experience and insight gained by personally seeing the world — broader than 经验 (skill from doing work) and more about breadth of exposure than 见闻 (just what one has seen and heard).

verb
to gain experience or knowledge through personal exposureto see and learn about (something new)
noun
experienceknowledgeinsightbreadth of knowledge

Examples

  • 见识。
    Zhè cì cān guān bó wù guǎn ràng wǒ jiàn shi le hěn duō gǔ dài wén huà.
    This visit to the museum allowed me to learn a lot about ancient culture.
  • 见识，。
    Tā de jiàn shi hěn fēng fù, dà jiā dōu yuàn yì tīng tā de yì jiàn.
    His knowledge is broad, and everyone is willing to listen to his opinions.
  • ，见识。
    Nǐ qù guò nà me duō dì fāng, yí dìng jiàn shi le bù shǎo.
    Having been to so many places, you must have gained a lot of experience.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

见jiànsee
识shíknow

“见” (see) and “识” (know) combine to mean experience or insight.

Characters in this word

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 →

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 識; 识 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánsay
Sound part声符shēngfú
戠
戠zhí識zhì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 識 pairs 言 (say) with 戠 as a sound part; the simplified 识 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 识 →
Appears in
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