举世闻名
jǔ shì wén míng · HSK 7
world-famous (idiom)
🌍📣 举世 = whole world + 闻名 = hear the name: the entire world hears your name
举 here means whole/entire and 世 means world, so 举世 = the whole world. 闻 is hear and 名 is name, so 闻名 = known by name. Put together: so renowned that everyone everywhere has heard of you.
举 — hands 𠆢 + give 与 (simplified from 擧)
Originally written 擧, showing hands (手) lifting something together with the phonetic 與 'together'. The simplified form 举 keeps the idea of many hands raising up. Core meaning 'to lift, raise' extended to 'to launch, propose, hold (an event)'.
闻 — gate 門 (phonetic) + ear 耳
Originally a pictograph of a person cupping a hand to the ear to listen, later restructured as a semantic-phonetic compound: 耳 (ear) gives the meaning and 門 (gate) supplies the sound. The core sense 'to hear' extended to 'news' and 'to smell', since both involve perceiving something from a distance.
名 — evening 夕 + mouth 口
A compound ideograph: in the dark of evening (夕), one cannot recognize others by sight, so the mouth (口) calls out a name to identify oneself. The original sense of 'name' broadened to include reputation, fame, and a measure word for people.