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鬼影 (guǐ yǐng) — apparition; ghost; ghostly figure

Definition

鬼影 is a literary word for a ghost or supernatural apparition, more vivid than the everyday 鬼. Often used in horror fiction, film, or storytelling to describe a ghostly figure seen in darkness.

noun
apparitionghostghostly figure
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 鬼影。
    Nà ge lǎo fáng zi lǐ jīng cháng chū xiàn guǐ yǐng.
    That old house often has apparitions.
  • 鬼影。
    Wǒ zài hēi àn lǐ kàn dào le yí gè kě pà de guǐ yǐng.
    I saw a terrifying ghostly figure in the darkness.
  • 鬼影。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng jiǎng de shì yì qún rén zài guǐ wū lǐ yù dào guǐ yǐng de gù shi.
    This movie is about a group of people encountering apparitions in a haunted house.

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.

鬼guǐghost
影yǐngshadow

鬼 and 影 combine to mean a ghostly shadow or apparition.

Characters in this word

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

鬼 originally drew a kneeling figure with an ugly face, perhaps a mask; the small lower right dot is a later added tail.

Open 鬼 →

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
彡彡shān
Sound part声符shēngfú
景
景jǐng影yǐng
Same sound today

影 pairs 景, which gives the sound and also carries the idea of image, with 彡, the part that points to shadow.

Open 影 →
Appears in
Mythology & Folklore

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