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邪念 (xié niàn) — evil thought, wicked idea

Definition

An evil or wicked thought that arises in the mind, often one the person tries to suppress. Stronger and more literary than 坏念头, which is the everyday spoken term for a bad/evil idea.

noun
evil thoughtwicked idea

Examples

  • 邪念。
    Tā xīn zhōng tū rán shēng chū le yí gè xié niàn.
    An evil thought suddenly arose in his heart.
  • 邪念。
    Tā nǔ lì yā zhì zhù zì jǐ de xié niàn.
    She tried hard to suppress her wicked thoughts.
  • 邪念，。
    xié niàn Rú guǒ bú qù kòng zhì, jiù huì niàng chéng dà huò.
    If evil thoughts are not controlled, they will cause great disaster.

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.

邪xiéevil
念niànthought

邪 means evil and 念 means thought, so the sense is an evil thought.

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
邑邑yìtown; city
Sound part声符shēngfú
牙
牙yá邪xié
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

邪 puts 牙 beside 邑 (town; city): 牙 gives the sound, and 邑 shows it was first used in a place name. It was later used for strange or evil meanings.

Open 邪 →

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

念 combines 今, an upside-down mouth, with 心, the heart, to listen to one's heart.

Open 念 →
Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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