神
shén
god; deity
God; supernatural; magical; mysterious; spirit; mind; energy; lively; expressive; look; expression; (coll.) awesome; amazing
divine rites (礻) + sound (申) = god, spirit, the supernatural
The 礻 radical (a variant of 示, the spirit tablet) anchors this character firmly in the sacred, covering everything from gods and deities to mysterious energy and lively expression. 申 mainly gives the sound shén and does not carry the spiritual meaning.
这个孩子的眼睛很有神。
zhè ge hái zi de yǎn jing hěn yǒu shén。
This child's eyes are very lively and expressive.
古人相信山里住着神。
gǔ rén xiāng xìn shān lǐ zhù zhe shén。
Ancient people believed that gods lived in the mountains.
Words with 神
神像
shén xiàng
likeness of a god or Buddha
神游
shén yóu
to go on a mental journey
神圣
shén shèng
divine
神采
shén cǎi
expression
神志
shén zhì
consciousness
心旷神怡
xīn kuàng shén yí
lit. heart untroubled, spirit pleased (idiom); carefree and relaxed
心神不宁
xīn shén bù níng
to feel ill at ease
分神
fēn shén
to give some attention to; to divert one's attention; to be distracted
雷神
léi shén
god of thunder (Chinese Leigong 雷公[Lei2 gong1], Norse Thor 索爾|索尔[Suo3 er3], Greek Zeus 宙斯[Zhou4 si1] etc)
神仙
shén xiān
supernatural entity
神经元
shén jīng yuán
neuron
封神演义
fēng shén yǎn yì
Investiture of the Gods, major Ming dynasty vernacular novel of mythology and fantasy, very loosely based on King Wu of Zhou's 周武王[Zhou1 Wu3 wang2] overthrow of the Shang, subsequent material for opera, film, TV series, computer games etc