传说 meaning in English
legend; folk tale; to repeat from mouth to mouth; they say that...
Meaning of 传说
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- legend; folk tale
- to repeat from mouth to mouth; they say that...
How to use 传说
As a noun, 传说 means a legend or folk tale, often in phrases like 古老的传说 (an ancient legend). As a verb, it means people are spreading word that something is true. Example: 传说这座山里住着神仙。(Chuánshuō zhè zuò shān lǐ zhùzhe shénxiān.) Legend has it that immortals live in this mountain.
传 (chuán) means to pass on, and 说 (shuō) means to speak. A 传说 is a story that gets passed from speaker to speaker until it becomes a legend.
Common mistake: Learners often use 传说 for ordinary news they heard, but for everyday hearsay 听说 (tīngshuō) or 据说 (jùshuō) sounds more natural. Also note that 传 here is read chuán, not zhuàn as in 传记 (zhuànjì, biography).
传说 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
传 chuán · to pass on · 6 strokes
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说 shuō · to speak · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 传说.
| 说话 | shuōhuà | to speak; to say |
| 听说 | tīngshuō | to hear (sth said); one hears (that) |
| 说明 | shuōmíng | to explain; to illustrate |
| 小说 | xiǎoshuō | novel; fiction |
| 比如说 | bǐrú shuō | for example |
| 据说 | jùshuō | it is said that; reportedly |
| 宣传 | xuānchuán | to disseminate; to give publicity to |
| 传播 | chuánbō | to disseminate; to propagate; to spread |
| 传来 | chuánlái | (of a sound) to come through; to be heard |
| 说服 | shuōfú | to persuade; to convince |
| 说不定 | shuōbudìng | can't say for sure; maybe |
| 传统 | chuántǒng | tradition; traditional |
Questions about 传说
What does 传说 mean?
传说 (chuánshuō) means "legend; folk tale; to repeat from mouth to mouth; they say that..." and is used as a verb and noun.
How do you write 传说?
传说 is made of 2 characters: 传 (6 strokes), 说 (9 strokes). That is 15 strokes in total.
Is 传说 an HSK word?
Yes. 传说 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 传说 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 传说 is written 傳說.
What is the difference between 传说 and 小说?
传说 is a traditional story passed down orally, usually with unknown authors. 小说 (xiǎoshuō) is a novel or piece of fiction written by a specific author.
Can 传说 describe a person, like calling someone a legend?
Yes. In modern casual speech people say things like 他是一个传说 (tā shì yí gè chuánshuō), meaning he is a legend. You will also see 传说中的 (chuánshuō zhōng de), meaning legendary or the one you have heard about.