About
The character "希" originated as a pictographic representation of woven cloth, with its early structure combining the component for cloth, "巾", with a pattern of crossing lines representing a sparse weave; this visual etymology directly informed its core meaning of "rare", "scarce", or "thin". Over time, the graphic representation of the crossing threads stabilized into the form "乂" placed above the "巾", creating the cohesive character recognized today. While retaining its original sense of rarity, the character’s meaning expanded through associative use, coming to signify "to hope for" or "to aspire to", a semantic shift where the desire for something mirrors its scarcity. It also acquired the meaning "to admire", further extending its conceptual range from objective scarcity to subjective valuation. This character has maintained a consistent graphical form for many centuries, with no distinct traditional variant created by later simplification processes.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
我希望你快乐。
我们都希望成功。
我希望你能来参加聚会。
希腊是一个美丽的国家。
这种事情并不希罕。
尽管困难重重，他仍然希望坚持下去。
他希求得到大家的认可。
在科学研究中，希冀突破传统思维往往需要大胆创新。