含义
hán yì · HSK 4
meaning
💭 含义 = contain + meaning (the meaning held inside words)
含 means to hold or contain; 义 means meaning or righteousness. Together: the meaning contained within something — often the implied or hidden sense behind a phrase, not its literal words.
含 — mouth 口 + 今 (jīn, phonetic)
含 is a phono-semantic compound. The 口 (mouth) component gives the meaning — holding something in the mouth — while 今 supplies the sound. From the literal sense of keeping something inside the mouth, it extended to mean 'contain', 'include', or 'hold within'.