好奇心
hào qí xīn · HSK 7
curiosity
🔍 好奇心 = like (好) + strange (奇) + heart (心): a heart that likes strange things = curiosity
好 means to like, 奇 means strange or novel, and 心 is heart or mind. Put together, the heart drawn to novelty is exactly curiosity. The trailing 心 marks many feeling-words in Chinese.
好 — woman 女 + child 子
好 is an associative compound showing a woman 女 beside a child 子, depicting a mother with her baby. From this image of maternal affection it came to mean 'good, fine, pleasing.' The reading hǎo means 'good'; read hào it means 'to like.'
心 — pictograph of a heart with chambers and aorta
心 is a pictograph showing a stylized heart, with strokes representing the organ's chambers and the aorta at the top. Originally meaning the physical heart, it broadened to cover mind, feelings, and intentions, since ancient Chinese thought located thinking and emotion in the heart.