钦 (qīn): to admire

Meanings

1 to admire
2 to respect
3 imperial

Characters

钦

qīn

to admire; respect; imperial; personally (by the emperor)

Examples

HSK 6

他对这位老科学家十分钦佩。

Tā duì zhè wèi lǎo kēxuéjiā shífēn qīnpèi.

He deeply admires this veteran scientist.

HSK 6

钦定是古代皇帝亲自批准的意思。

Qīndìng shì gǔdài huángdì qīnzì pīzhǔn de yìsi.

Qinding means approved personally by the emperor in ancient usage.

Tips

usage

钦 rarely appears alone; it occurs in formal compounds: 钦佩 (to admire), 钦仰 (to admire and look up to), 钦定 (imperially designated). In imperial China, 钦 attached to a word (e.g. 钦差大臣 - imperial envoy) signified that something was directly from the emperor.

Components

radical

钅 jīn

metal; gold (radical form)

Metal radical on the left, the indexing component and a contracted form of 金. The link to 钦 is etymologically loose - 钦 originally meant 'to yawn or pause' before drifting to 'admire'. Read the 钅 here as a graph-marker rather than a meaning clue.

phonetic

欠 qiàn

to lack; to yawn (open mouth)

Right side 欠 supplies the sound with a regular shift qiàn to qīn. 欠 also lends meaning - it pictures a person with mouth open, and the imperial sense (as in 钦命 'by imperial command') grew from 'gazing up in awe'.