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A phono-semantic compound: the left-side 彳 (chì, step) indicates walking or movement, while the right side originally combined 止 (zhǐ, foot) for meaning and 王 (wáng) for sound, now simplified to 主. Originally, 往 meant to set out from one's current location and proceed toward a destination. The idea of moving away in space extended to a temporal shift, yielding the sense of bygone times, past events, and former interactions. It appears frequently in compounds referring to the past or prior relationships.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
我往家里跑。
他往公园走去。
请往这边来。
火车往北京开。
我们往往去那里吃饭。
他往我的账户里存钱。
往好的方面想，事情会变好的。
随着时间往后退，记忆逐渐模糊。
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