Meaning
起身 means to physically rise from a sitting or lying position, or to depart from a place. It combines 起 (to rise) and 身 (body), literally meaning 'to raise one's body.' The word can describe both the act of standing up from a seat and the action of beginning a journey or leaving a location.
Usage
起身 is more formal than simply saying 站起来 (stand up) and is commonly used in written narratives and polite speech. It frequently appears in contexts describing someone getting up to leave after a meeting or meal, or someone departing on a journey. The word carries a slightly more literary or elegant tone than everyday alternatives.
Examples
- 01他听到敲门声，立刻起身去开门。, .When he heard the knock, he immediately got up to open the door.
- 02吃完饭后，客人们纷纷起身告辞。, .After finishing the meal, the guests got up one after another to take their leave.
Characters
Common collocations
- 起身告辞to get up and take one's leave
- 起身离开to get up and leave
- 起身迎接to stand up to greet someone
Antonyms
Origin
The compound combines 起 (to rise) with 身 (body), creating a verb-object structure that literally means 'to raise the body.' This construction has been used in Chinese for centuries to describe the act of getting up.