迎

yíng
verb HSK 5 #12,639

Meanings

  1. 1 to welcome; to greet
  2. 2 to meet; to receive
  3. 3 to face; to move towards

Examples

HSK 2
Yíngmiàn zǒu lái yí gè rén.
Someone walked towards us from the front.
HSK 3
Huānyíng lái Zhōngguó!
Welcome to China!
HSK 3
Tā qù jīchǎng yíngjiē péngyou.
He went to the airport to meet his friend.

Tips

usage
迎 is used in: 欢迎 (welcome), 迎接 (greet/receive), 迎面 (head-on/face to face), 迎合 (cater to). 欢迎光临 (Welcome!) is heard in every Chinese shop.

Components

radical
辶 chuò
walk; advance (radical form of 辵)
Walking radical wrapping the bottom-left, the side form of 辵 - depicting steps along a path. Indexes 迎 in the motion family alongside 进 to advance, 送 to see off, 还 to return. Names motion toward an arriving guest - going out to meet them rather than waiting at the door.
phonetic
卬 áng
to raise the head; face upward
Inner 卬 supplies the sound: áng drifted to yíng via vowel and finals change. 卬 itself depicts two people facing each other, one standing one kneeling - picture of meeting, looking up to greet. That face-to-face imagery dovetails perfectly with 迎's meaning: walking forward, raising the head to welcome whoever approaches.

Stroke Order

迎 yíng