PRECIOUS    寶貴寶

APPRECIATED BECAUSE RARE, APPRECIATED AND EXPENSIVE.
TREASUREDTREASUREVALUABLECOSTLYEXPENSIVEINVALUABLEPRICELESSBEYOND PRICEVALUEDCHERISHEDTREASUREDPRIZEDFAVORITEDEARDEARESTBELOVEDDARLINGADOREDLOVEDSPECIAL
Old Chinese Criteria
1. The current general word for objective preciousness and real high value and importance is bǎo 寶 (ant. zhuì 贅 "trifles"), and this word often has abstract figurative meanings "what one treasures as most important in one's life". 2. Guì 貴 (ant. jiàn 賤 "cheap") refers to something precious and expensive, and the idea is always that this things are publicly recognised as precious. 3. Zhēn 珍 (ant. yōng 庸 "perfectly ordinary") is always concrete when nominal and refers to preciousness with strong overtones of exquisite and exlusive distinction of the object concerned, and there often is a touch of the subjective. Hence the common combination zhēn guài 珍怪 "precious and exotic things", and the derived meaning of "culinary delicacies".
Modern Chinese Criteria
昂貴 / 貴重 寶貴 / 珍貴 貴重 refers to concrete things that are notoriously precious and expensive. 名貴 refers to what is widely recognised as precious. 寶貴 is the most general current word for anything precious or valuable, but of course not to noble persons who are 尊貴. 昂貴 refers to concrete items that are costly and thus inaccessible. 可貴 refers to what deserves appreciation as precious. 華貴 珍貴 refers to what is exquisitely precious. 珍 珍奇 珍異 金玉 難得 難能可貴 寶物 寶貝 寶 珍 琛 珍品 珍寶 至寶 無價寶 七寶 瑰寶 瑰奇 拱璧 珍怪 珍玩 金玉 珠翠 珍珠寶貝 奇珍異寶 明珠瑋寶 金玉珠翠 殊方異物 一狐之腋 和璧隋珠 吉光片羽 rough draft to BEGIN TO identify synonym group members for analysis, based on CL etc. 18.11.2003. CH ／
Antonym
  • ORDINARYCOMMON AND INFERIOR to what is EXCELLENT.
See also
  • ADMIREAPPRECIATE AND DELIGHT in what one BELIEVES is MORE GOOD IN-RELATION-TO either ONESELF OR IN-RELATION-TO what is COMMON.
  • WELL-KNOWNBe KNOWN as IMPORTANT by MANY.
  • APPRECIATEBELIEVE INTENSELY that something is EXCELLENT, GOOD AND IMPORTANT. 
  • EXPENSIVEPRICE MORE BIG IN-RELATION-TO the PRICE IMAGINED.
Hypernym
  • APPRECIATE　BELIEVE INTENSELY that something is EXCELLENT, GOOD AND IMPORTANT.  (anc: 7/0, child: 2)
  • BELIEVE　ATTITUDE IN-RELATION-TO a THINK:thought to the effect that this THOUGHT is TRUE. (anc: 6/0, child: 15)
  • ATTITUDE　RELATION between a HUMAN who FEELS and PERCEIVED OBJECTS involving a TENDENDY to REACT. (anc: 5/0, child: 3)
  • A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages ( BUCK 1988) p. 11.46

  • 論衡同義詞研究 ( LUNHENG TONGYI 2004) p. 15

  • 中華古代文化辭典 Zhonghua gudai wenhua cidian ( QIAN YULIN 1996) p. 613-618

    Traditional Chinese keywords on jade, gold and other treasures simply explained.

  • 王力古漢語字典 ( WANG LI 2000) p. 712

    寶，珍

    1. WL: 二字同義. The deep difference is that ba3o 寶 refers to something publicly recognised and objectively construed as a valuable treasure; zhe1n 珍 refers rather to a subjectively highly appreciated thing. A precious official gift tends to be ba3o 寶, never zhe1n 珍. A state treasure has to be a guo2 ba3o g國寶, never a guo2 zhe1n 國珍. What is kept in treasuries of state is standardly ba3o 寶, and if zhe1n 珍 were kept, this would be a display of subjectivism on the part of the ruler. Valuable possessions of all sorts, or wealth, do not constitute ba3o 寶 because such wealth may be judged unimportant. A large di3ng 鼎 is definitely a ba3o 寶 because it is impossible to doubt its significance and importanc. Such a di3ng 鼎would certainly not count as a zhe1n 珍. Zho4ng 重 "heavy, weighty" is a natural epithet for ba3o 寶, not for zhe1n 珍.

  • Using Chinese Synonyms ( GRACE ZHANG 2010) p. 15

  • Chinese Synonyms Usage Dictionary ( TENG SHOU-HSIN 1996) p. 22

  • 跟我學同義詞 ( CAI SHAOWEI 2010) p. 17

  • 跟我學同義詞 ( CAI SHAOWEI 2010) p. 41

    • Words (27 items)

    寶  bǎo OC: puuʔ MC: pɑu 169 Attributions

    The current general word for objective preciousness and real high value and importance is bǎo 寶 (ant. zhuì 贅 "trifles"), and this word often has abstract figurative meanings "what one treasures as most important in one's life".

      Word relations
    • Epithet: 玉/JADE
    • Assoc: 幣/MONEY Bì 幣 referred originally to the silk which could be used for sacrifice or as a gift. In the Warring States period, the term refer to precious things (jades, horses) often used as a gift. In Han times, the word was used like a general term for money.
    • Assoc: 珍/PRECIOUS Zhēn 珍 (ant. yōng 庸 "perfectly ordinary") is always concrete when nominal and refers to preciousness with strong overtones of exquisite and exlusive distinction of the object concerned, and there often is a touch of the subjective. Hence the common combination zhēn guài 珍怪 "precious and exotic things", and the derived meaning of "culinary delicacies".
    • Assoc: 貨/PROPERTY Huò 貨 refers to property, particularly precious metals or jade etc, insofar as these may be traded or is considered as being a possible object for trading.

      Syntactic words
    • nab.post-V{NUM}figurativemost important thing, objectively most valuable thing 諸侯之寶三
    • nabfigurativeabstract: treasure, most precious abstract item
    • nabstativepreciousness 寶之至也
    • nccprecious possession; precious things; treasure of high personal, monetary, social or moral value 三寶
    • nmtreasure (cf. English: you will receive treasure...)
    • vadNprecious; sometimes: containing treasure
    • vadNfigurativemost treasured, most important
    • vibe precious
    • vtoNmake N preciousLZ
    珍  zhēn OC: k-lɯn MC: ʈin 18 Attributions

    Zhēn 珍 (ant. yōng 庸 "perfectly ordinary") is always concrete when nominal and refers to preciousness with strong overtones of exquisite and exlusive distinction of the object concerned, and there often is a touch of the subjective. Hence the common combination zhēn guài 珍怪 "precious and exotic things", and the derived meaning of "culinary delicacies".

      Word relations
    • Assoc: 嘉/EXCELLENT Jiā 嘉 (ant. yōng 庸 "mediocre") refers to manifestly recognised striking excellence, typically of an abstract kind.
    • Assoc: 寶/PRECIOUS The current general word for objective preciousness and real high value and importance is bǎo 寶 (ant. zhuì 贅 "trifles"), and this word often has abstract figurative meanings "what one treasures as most important in one's life".
    • Assoc: 怪/PRECIOUS
    • Assoc: 異/EXCELLENT

      Syntactic words
    • nfigurativetreasure
    • nmexquisite things that are conceived as primarily rare, extraordinary and as being of high aesthetic value
    • vadNexquisite and precious
    • vibe exquisite and precious
    • vtoNcausativecause to look precious; dress up
    珍寶  zhēn bǎo OC: k-lɯn puuʔ MC: ʈin pɑu 16 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • NPmtreasures
    • NPmnonreferentialtreasures
    玩好  wán hǎo OC: ŋɡoons qhuuʔ MC: ŋʷɑn hɑu 14 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • NP[adN]pleasant playthings, beautiful toys
    珍怪  zhēn guài OC: k-lɯn kruuds MC: ʈin kɣɛi 8 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • NP[adN]extraordinary treasures
    珠玉  zhū yù OC: tjo ŋɡoɡ MC: tɕi̯o ŋi̯ok 4 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • NPmtreasures like pearls and jade; pearls, jade and the like; minor precious objects;
    貴  guì OC: kluds MC: kɨi 3 Attributions

    Guì 貴 (ant. jiàn 賤 "cheap") refers to something precious and expensive, and the idea is always that this things are publicly recognised as precious.

      Syntactic words
    • vadNprecious
    • viof material objects: be precious, be of great status
    • vifigurativebe to be treasured most
    七寶  qī bǎo OC: snʰid puuʔ MC: tshit pɑu 3 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • NPadVwith the seven treasures of Buddhism. DCD: 1.佛教語。七種珍寶。佛經中說法不一，如：法華經以金、銀、琉璃、硨磲、碼�ˆ、真珠、玫瑰為七寶；無量壽經以金、銀、琉璃、珊瑚、琥珀、硨磲、瑪瑙為七寶；大阿彌陀經以黃金、白銀、水晶、琉璃、珊瑚、琥珀、硨磲為七寶；恆水經以白銀、黃金、珊瑚、白珠、硨磲、明月珠、摩尼珠為七寶。
    三寶  sān bǎo OC: saam puuʔ MC: sɑm pɑu 3 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • NPabbuddhistBUDDH: the Three Treasures (Buddha, dharma, saṃgha)
    怪  guài OC: kruuds MC: kɣɛi 3 Attributions

      Word relations
    • Assoc: 珍/PRECIOUS Zhēn 珍 (ant. yōng 庸 "perfectly ordinary") is always concrete when nominal and refers to preciousness with strong overtones of exquisite and exlusive distinction of the object concerned, and there often is a touch of the subjective. Hence the common combination zhēn guài 珍怪 "precious and exotic things", and the derived meaning of "culinary delicacies".

      Syntactic words
    • nwhat is amazing and thus to be treasured
    物  wù OC: mɯd MC: mi̯ut 3 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • NPpluralexotic things
    法寶  fǎ bǎo OC: pab puuʔ MC: pi̯ɐp pɑu 2 Attributions
    • 佛光大辭典 Fóguāng dàcídiǎn The Foguang Dictionary of Buddhism ( FOGUANG) p. 701, 1137, 3432

      Syntactic words
    • NPbuddhistBUDDH: dharma-treasure (> the teachings of the Buddha)
    可惜  kě xī OC: khlaalʔ sqaɡ MC: khɑ siɛk 2 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • VPadNworth being appreciated> precious
    • VPiTang colloquial: be rare and precious
    玉帛  yù bó OC: ŋɡoɡ braaɡ MC: ŋi̯ok bɣɛk 2 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • NPmjade and silk> precious objects
    藏  zàng MC: dzangH OC: sɡaaŋs 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • ntreasureCH
    賂  lù MC: luH OC: ɡ-raaɡs 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • npost-NN's treasures; precious things belonging to NDS
    重  zhòng MC: drjowng OC: doŋʔ 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • vt prep Ngradedbe more precious than NLZ
    金玉  jīn yù OC: krɯm ŋɡoɡ MC: kim ŋi̯ok 1 Attribution

    various precious (ritual) objects

      Syntactic words
    • NPm[.adN]generalmoney and gems
    金石  jīn shí MC: kim dzyek OC: krɯm djaɡ 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • NPmetal and stones as precious materialsLZ
    瑤  yáo OC: k-lew MC: jiɛu 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • nadNLIKE A PRECIOUS STONE> precious, wonderful
    瓊  qióng OC: ɡʷeŋ MC: giɛŋ 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • vadNprecious; made of precious jade; studded with precious jade
    寶尊  bǎo zūn OC: puuʔ tsuun MC: pɑu tsuo̝n 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • NPfigurativetreasure
    珍重  zhēn zhòng OC: k-lɯn doŋʔ MC: ʈin ɖi̯oŋ 0 Attributions
    • 唐五代語言詞典 Táng Wǔdài yǔyán cídiǎn A Dictionary of the Language of the Tang and Five Dynasties Periods ( JIANG/CAO 1997) p. 439

      Syntactic words
    • VPiprecious, valuable (BIANWEN, Tang poetry)
    龜玉  guī yù OC: kʷrɯ ŋɡoɡ MC: ki ŋi̯ok 0 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • NPplural(state treasures like) turtles and jade
      Click here to add pinyin MC:  OC: 0 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • ntreasureCH
    琛  chēn OC: khrlum MC: ʈhim 0 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • ntreasure
    瑰  guī OC: kuul MC: kuo̝i 0 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • vadNprecious