源etymfun
About

Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

似曾相識

/sɹ̩⁵¹ t͡sʰɤŋ³⁵ ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵⁵ ʂɻ̩³⁵/
to seem to have met before; déjà vu
  • 似曾相识
Post Share

Etymology graph

  • inherited
  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
  • related
React Flow
Press enter or space to select a node. You can then use the arrow keys to move the node around. Press delete to remove it and escape to cancel.
Press enter or space to select an edge. You can then press delete to remove it or escape to cancel.

點擊節點放大 · Click a node to zoom in

The phrase describes the haunting sensation of encountering someone or something that feels deeply familiar from a forgotten past.
The phrase describes the haunting sensation of encountering someone or something that feels deeply familiar from a forgotten past.

Origin

The phrase is composed of four characters. 似 means to be like, to be similar to, or to resemble; it is formed with the semantic component 人 (man or person) and the phonetic component 以 (a preposition expressing boundary in time, orientation, or direction). 曾 means already, ever, once in the past, or previously. 相 means to see for oneself or to evaluate by seeing for oneself, consisting of the components 木 (tree or woody plant) and 目 (eye). 識 means to know, to realise, or to be aware.

In the construction of 識, the semantic component is 言 (to say, speak, or talk) and the phonetic component is 戠 (sword). The character 戠 is itself composed of the components 音 (sound or voice) and 戈 (a dagger-axe, an ancient Chinese weapon similar to a halberd).

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

「似曾相識」由「似」、「曾」、「相」、「識」四個字組成。「似」的意思是像、相似或 resemblance；其字形包含表示人的「人」作為意義組成部分，並以「以」作為聲音組成部分。「曾」則表示已經、曾經或過去。「相」的意思是親自觀察或評估；其字形結合了「木」與「目」兩個部分。「識」的意思是知道、察覺或意識到；其字形包含表示說話的「言」作為意義組成部分，並以「戠」作為聲音組成部分。

在「戠」這個聲音組成部分中，包含了「音」與「戈」兩個組件，其中「戈」是一種類似長戟的古代中國武器。這個片語透過這些字組合，表達出某種似曾相識的熟悉感。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • characterChinese似 “to be like; to be similar to; to resemble”
    • meaningChinese人 “man; person; people (Classifier: 個／个 m c; 隻／只 h)”
    • soundChinese以 “a preposition that expresses a boundary in time, orientation, direction or quantity”
  • characterChinese曾 “already; ever; once (in the past); previously”
  • characterChinese相 “to see for oneself; to evaluate by seeing for oneself”
    • ideaChinese木 “tree; woody plant”
    • ideaChinese目 “eye (Classifier: 雙／双 mn-t)”
  • characterChinese識 “to know; to realise; to be aware”
    • meaningChinese言 “to say; to speak; to talk”
    • soundChinese戠 “sword”
      • ideaChinese音 “sound; voice; tone”
      • ideaChinese戈 “dagger-axe (an ancient Chinese weapon similar to a halberd)”
Wiktionary etymology text

No etymology text yet. The graph shows what is known from the sources.

Meanings

phrase
  1. to seem to have met before; déjà vu

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 對所見的人、事、物感覺熟悉，卻又不真切。 例：他對這裡的景物好像似曾相識，但又不記得何時曾經來過。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0