迎春 (yíng chūn) — to welcome spring; to greet the new year

Definition

A formal, written verb meaning 'to welcome spring' — a literary or festive phrase, not everyday speech. Less common than simply saying 春天到了.

verb
to welcome springto greet the new year

Examples

  • ，迎春。
    Měi nián chūn tiān, rén men dōu huì yíng chūn.
    Every spring, people welcome the spring.
  • ，。
    Wǒ men zuó tiān yíng le chūn, qìng zhù xīn nián.
    We welcomed spring yesterday and celebrated the new year.
  • ？
    Nǐ yíng guò chūn ma?
    Have you ever welcomed the spring?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

迎yíngwelcome
春chūnspring

迎 (welcome) plus 春 (spring) gives greeting the arrival of spring.

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
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
卬
卬áng迎yíng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

迎 is made of 辶 (written fully as 辵) for the meaning and 卬 for the sound.

Open 迎 →

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
艸艸cǎograss
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
屯
屯tún春chūn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

春 combines 艸 (grass) and 日 (sun) with 屯, which supplies the sound and is described as a swollen sprout.

Open 春 →

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