德

悳
dé
#256 most
frequent character
virtue
noun

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

德 joins 彳, for movement or action, with 㥁, a sound part meaning 'heart not crooked'. Together they gave the first sense, 'act virtuously'. The meaning later grew to 'good, goodness'.

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Example Sentences

他是一个非常有德的人。
tāshì yígè fēicháng yǒu dé de rén 。
He is a person with a lot of virtue.
德行比名声更重要。
déxíng bǐ míngshēng gēng zhòngyào 。
Virtue is more important than reputation.
社会需要更多有德的人。
shèhuì xūyào gēngduō yǒu dé de rén 。
Society needs more virtuous people.

Same Characters, Different Readings

德De2
Germany, German, abbr. for 德國|德国[De2 guo2]
德dé
virtue
德dé
virtue

Words with similar meanings

美德měidé
moral virtue
This term specifically refers to a moral quality, emphasizing the ethical aspect of virtue.
品德pǐndé
moral character
While similar to 德, 品德 emphasizes a person's overall character in terms of morality and ethics.

Homophones

得dé
need, must, have to, be sure to
德dé
virtue

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