知音

Chinese

		to know; to be aware	sound; noise; news
simp. and trad. (知音)		知	音

Etymology

From the old Chinese story about the deep friendship between two men, Boya (a qin player) and Ziqi (a woodcutter). Despite Ziqi's humble background, upon hearing Boya play his qin he was surprisingly able to tell which subjects each of the pieces represented.

Noun

(deprecated template usage) 知音

1. friend keenly appreciative of one's talents; bosom friend; intimate friend; soul mate

   覓知音／觅知音  ―  mì zhīyīn  ―  to look for one's soulmate

   知音難求／知音难求  ―  zhīyīn nán qiú  ―  it's difficult to find one's soulmate

   我終於遇到知音了。 [MSC, trad.]
   我终于遇到知音了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ zhōngyú yùdào zhīyīn le. [Pinyin]

   I finally found someone who truly understands me.

Synonyms

(deprecated template usage)

• 友好 (yǒuhǎo)
• 同袍 (tóngpáo) (literary)
• 執友／执友 (zhíyǒu) (literary)
• 好友 (hǎoyǒu)
• 相知 (xiāngzhī)
• 知交 (zhījiāo)
• 知友 (zhīyǒu)
• 知己 (zhījǐ)
• 知心 (zhīxīn)
• 知心朋友 (zhīxīn péngyou)
• 知言 (zhīyán) (literary)
• 知遇 (zhīyù) (literary)
• 良朋 (liángpéng) (literary)
• 良知 (liángzhī)
• 高朋 (gāopéng) (literary)
• 齒輪／齿轮 (ci³ nen²) (Sichuanese)

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (知音):

• → Japanese: 知音(ちいん) (chiin)
• → Korean: 지음(知音) (jieum)
• → Vietnamese: tri âm (知音)

(deprecated template usage)