晦

huì

日 + 每

Definitions

huì (bound form) last day of a lunar month; (bound form) dark; gloomy; (literary) night

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 日 represents the meaning and 每 represents the sound.

Semantic: 日 Phonetic: 每

About

晦 is a phono-semantic compound: 日 (sun) provides the meaning, and 每 (měi) the sound. Its earliest meaning is the last day of the lunar month, when the moon is dark. From this literal darkness, it came to describe anything physically dark, gloomy, or obscured, and later shifted to abstract notions of obscurity, something difficult to comprehend or deliberately concealed.

Etymology Hide

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

天色突然变得晦暗。

Tiān sè tū rán biàn de huì àn。

The sky suddenly became dark and gloomy.

他今天一脸晦气。

Tā jīn tiān yī liǎn huì qì。

He looks unlucky today.

这本书的语言有些晦涩。

Zhè běn shū de yǔ yán yǒu xiē huì sè。

The language in this book is somewhat obscure.

不要说不吉利的话，那很晦气。

Bù yào shuō bù jí lì de huà, nà hěn huì qì。

Don't say unlucky things; that's very inauspicious.

文章的含义晦涩难懂。

Wén zhāng de hán yì huì sè nán dǒng。

The meaning of the article is obscure and hard to understand。

他对自己的过去总是晦莫如深。

Tā duì zì jǐ de guò qù zǒng shì huì mò rú shēn。

He is always secretive and evasive about his past。

晦暗的灯光让房间显得很压抑。

Huì àn de dēng guāng ràng fáng jiān xiǎn de hěn yā yì。

The dim light made the room feel very oppressive。

在那些晦暗的日子里，他从未放弃希望。

Zài nà xiē huì àn de rì zi lǐ, tā cóng wèi fàng qì xī wàng。

In those gloomy days, he never gave up hope。

Related Characters

Component: 日

Component: 每

晦