贞德 (Zhēn dé) — Joan of Arc (French heroine)

Definition

Proper noun: the Chinese name for Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc), the 15th-century French national heroine who led French forces during the Hundred Years' War. The Chinese transliteration carries no literal meaning of its own.

noun

Joan of Arc (French heroine)

Examples

贞德。
Zhēn dé Shì fǎ guó lì shǐ shàng zhù míng de nǚ yīng xióng.
Joan of Arc is a famous heroine in French history.
贞德。
Hěn duō diàn yǐng hé shū jí dōu jiǎng shù le Zhēn dé de gù shi.
Many movies and books tell the story of Joan of Arc.
，贞德。
Zài fǎ guó, Zhēn dé bèi shì wéi mín zú yīng xióng.
In France, Joan of Arc is regarded as a national hero.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 貞; 贞 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 貞 grew from a picture of a ding tripod, later changed for divination, and its lower part became unrelated to that picture; the simplified 贞 is a shorthand.

Open 贞 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

彳彳chìroad

Sound part声符shēngfú

惪

惪dé德dé

Same sound today

德 combines 彳, a road, with 惪, a component meaning virtue that also supplies the sound.

Open 德 →

Appears in

History