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预兆 (yù zhào) — (noun) omen, sign (of something yet to occur); (verb) to foreshadow, to portend

Definition

A sign or omen seen as pointing to something that will happen. Unlike 预示 (a neutral 'indicate/foreshadow'), 预兆 usually carries a sense of foreboding or fate; noun-only 同义词 兆头 is more colloquial.

noun
omensign (of something yet to occur)
verb
to foreshadowto portend

Examples

  • 预兆，。
    Zhè kě bú shì hǎo yù zhào, wǒ men dé xiǎo xīn.
    This is not a good omen — we need to be careful.
  • ，预兆。
    Tiān kōng tū rán biàn àn, shì bù hǎo de yù zhào.
    The sky suddenly darkened — that's a bad sign.
  • 预兆。
    Zhè chǎng yǔ yù zhào zhe qiū tiān de dào lái.
    This rain foreshadows the arrival of autumn.

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.

预yùbeforehand
兆zhàosign

The 预 meaning beforehand combines with 兆 meaning sign to mean a sign appearing in advance.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 預; 预 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yè
Sound part声符shēngfú
予
予yǔ預yù
Same sound today

The traditional form 預 combines 予 for the sound and 頁 for the meaning; the simplified 预 is a later shorthand.

Open 预 →

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

The form 兆 shows two 人 (person) parts on either side of a 水 (water) part: two people fleeing with their backs to a flood.

Open 兆 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Abstract Concepts

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