辨认 (biàn rèn) — to identify, to recognize (after careful examin…

Definition

辨认 means 'to identify / pick out' after close examination, especially when something is unclear (a face in a crowd, a species). Stronger than 识别 (recognize/distinguish a category) and more concrete than 辨别 (discern fine differences).

verb

to identifyto recognize (after careful examination)

Examples

辨认。
Jǐng chá cóng zhào piàn zhōng biàn rèn chū le xián yí rén.
The police identified the suspect from the photo.
，辨认。
Zài rén qún zhōng, wǒ hěn nán biàn rèn chū tā.
It was hard for me to pick him out in the crowd.
辨认？
Nǐ néng biàn rèn chū zhè liǎng zhǒng niǎo de qū bié ma?
Can you tell the difference between these two kinds of birds?

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

辨biàndistinguish

认rènrecognize

辨 and 认 both involve telling and recognizing, so together they mean to identify.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

刀刀dāoknife

Sound part声符shēngfú

辡

辡biàn辨biàn

Same sound today

辨 pairs 刀 (knife) with 辡, made of two knives. The two knives suggest two prisoners accusing each other, giving different accounts that must be sorted out.

Open 辨 →

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

讠人认

Meaning part形符xíngfú

讠Written in full as言yánspeech

Sound part声符shēngfú

人

人rén认rèn

Same sound today

The left part 讠 shows speech, and the right part 人 gives the sound.

Open 认 →

Appears in