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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

理直氣壯

/li²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂɻ̩³⁵ t͡ɕʰi⁵¹⁻⁵³ ʈ͡ʂu̯ɑŋ⁵¹/
with justice on one's side and in an assertive tone
  • 理直气壮
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Etymology graph

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Origin

The phrase 理直氣壯 describes having justice on one's side and an assertive tone, or having sufficient and proper reasons to be without fear.

It is composed of four characters. The character 理 means "to cut and polish jade," combining the semantic component 玉 (jade) with the phonetic component 里 (a unit of distance). The character 直 means "straight; linear; undeviating," formed from the components 目 (eye) and 丨 (to connect vertically or pass through from top to bottom).

The character 氣 refers to gas, a state of matter between liquid and plasma, consisting of the phonetic component 气 (gas) and the semantic component 米 (uncooked rice). Finally, 壯 means "strong; robust," combining the semantic component 士 (unmarried male; bachelor) with the phonetic component 爿 (a piece of wood or bamboo made by chopping).

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

Lineage

  • characterChinese理 “to cut and polish jade”
    • meaningChinese玉 “jade (originally nephrite, now also including jadeite)”
    • soundChinese里 “li (a unit of distance equal to half a kilometre in modern Mainland China)”
      • ideaChinese田 “farmland (Classifier: 塊／块 m c)”
      • ideaChinese土 “earth; soil”
  • characterChinese直 “straight; linear; undeviating”
    • ideaChinese目 “eye (Classifier: 雙／双 mn-t)”
    • ideaChinese丨 “To connect vertically; to pass through from top to bottom.”
  • characterChinese氣 “gas (matter in an intermediate state between liquid and plasma)”
    • soundChinese气 “gas”
    • meaningChinese米 “hulled or husked uncooked rice (Classifier: 粒 m c mn; 顆／颗 m)”
  • characterChinese壯 “strong; robust”
    • soundChinese爿 “piece of wood or bamboo (made by chopping)”
    • meaningChinese士 “unmarried male; bachelor”
Wiktionary etymology text

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

Meanings

phrase
  1. with justice on one's side and in an assertive tone

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 理由正當充分而無所畏懼。 例：只要行事正當，理直氣壯，就沒有什麼好怕的。

© 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