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重归于好 (chóng guī yú hǎo) — to reconcile, to make up after a disagreement

Definition

Formal idiom meaning two parties become friends again after conflict or a rift — used for couples, friends, and countries, more literary than everyday verbs like 和好.

idiom
to reconcileto make up after a disagreement

Examples

  • ，重归于好。
    Jīng guò yí cì shēn rù de tán huà, tā men zhōng yú chóng guī yú hǎo le.
    After a deep conversation, they finally reconciled.
  • 重归于好。
    Zhè duì fū qī zài lěng zhàn yí gè yuè hòu chóng guī yú hǎo.
    The couple reconciled after a month of cold war.
  • ，重归于好，。
    Liǎng guó jīng guò tán pàn, zhōng yú chóng guī yú hǎo, huī fù le wài jiāo guān xì.
    The two countries reconciled through negotiations and restored diplomatic relations.

Origin

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
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng重zhòng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

重 developed from a picture of a man carrying a bag, with 人 for the man and 東 for the bag; a later ground element was folded into the form.

Open 重 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 歸; 归 is its simplified writing.

  • 𠂤𠂤𠂤ancient form of {{zh-l|*師|troops}}
  • 帚帚zhǒubroom; sweep

The traditional form 歸 combines 𠂤 (troops) and 帚 (broom; sweep) to show sweeping away an enemy and returning; the simplified 归 is a later abbreviation.

Open 归 →

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

  • 一一yīflat stream of air
  • 丂丂kǎoto exhale

The old shape of 于 may have pictured an ancient wind instrument. Another explanation reads 一 as a flat stream of air and 丂 as an exhaling mark.

Open 于 →

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

好 joins 女 (woman) and 子 (child), understood as a woman with a child, linked to goodness or affection.

Open 好 →
Appears in
Conflict & AgreementIdioms & Set Phrases

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