远游 (yuǎn yóu) — to travel far away, to go on a long journey (literary)

Definition

Literary verb meaning 'to travel far from home,' often for study or a long journey. Distinct from the everyday 旅行 (general travel) and 旅游 (leisure/sightseeing trips).

verb
to travel far awayto go on a long journey (literary)

Examples

  • 远游，。
    Tā nián qīng shí xǐ huan yuǎn yóu, qù guò hěn duō guó jiā.
    When he was young, he liked to travel far away and went to many countries.
  • 远游。
    Gǔ rén cháng cháng wèi le qiú xué ér yuǎn yóu.
    Ancient people often traveled far for the sake of learning.
  • 远游，。
    yuǎn yóu Duō nián hòu, tā zhōng yú huí dào le gù xiāng.
    After many years of traveling far away, he finally returned to his hometown.

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.

远yuǎnfar
游yóutravel

远 tells how far, and 游 tells the traveling.

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chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
元
元yuán远yuǎn
Same sound today

远 combines 辶, meaning walk, with 元, used for its sound.

Open 远 →

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
斿
斿yóu游yóu
Same sound today

游 combines 水 (water) with 斿, which gives the sound yóu and also relates to travelling.

Open 游 →

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