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进取心 (jìn qǔ xīn) — enterprising spirit; initiative; drive

Definition

A noun for an inner 'drive to push forward' — the enterprising, goal-oriented motivation a person has, not a single act of initiative. Used in formal writing and résumés.

noun
enterprising spiritinitiativedrive

Examples

  • 进取心，。
    Tā hěn yǒu jìn qǔ xīn, zǒng shì zhǔ dòng xué xí xīn zhī shi.
    He has a lot of initiative; he always takes the initiative to learn new knowledge.
  • 进取心。
    Gōng sī xū yào yǒu jìn qǔ xīn de yuán gōng lái tuī dòng fā zhǎn.
    The company needs employees with drive to promote development.
  • 进取心。
    Tā de jìn qǔ xīn ràng tā zài shì yè shàng qǔ dé le hěn dà chéng gōng.
    Her enterprising spirit helped her achieve great success in her career.

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.

进取advance and take
进jìnadvance取qǔtake
联合Coordinate
心xīnspirit

进取 gives the drive to advance, and 心 is the spirit behind it.

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 進; 进 is its simplified writing.

  • 辵辵chuòwalk
  • 隹隹zhuīshort-tail bird

The traditional form 進 pairs 辵 (walk) with 隹 (short-tail bird): the picture showed moving forward because a bird can only walk forward, not backward. The simplified 进 is a later shorthand.

Open 进 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

取 pairs 又 (hand) with 耳 (ear), showing a hand taking an ear, as in taking the ear of fallen prey.

Open 取 →

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →
Appears in
Personality & Traits

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