闻

wén

to hear

surname Wen; news; well-known; famous; reputation; fame; to smell; to sniff at

gate (门) + ear (耳) = to hear, to smell, news

耳 carries the meaning: an ear pressed to a door listens for news or sound. 门 mainly contributes the sound wén rather than a literal gate.

门+耳→闻

耳EarSemantic

门GatePhonetic

你闻一下，这朵花香不香？

nǐ wén yī xià, zhè duǒ huā xiāng bu xiāng?

Smell it for a moment — does this flower have a nice fragrance?

这件事我早就有所耳闻，只是没说出来。

zhè jiàn shì wǒ zǎo jiù yǒu suǒ ěr wén, zhǐ shì méi shuō chū lái.

I had already heard about this matter some time ago, I just never said anything.

逸事遗闻

yì shì yí wén

variant of 軼事遺聞|轶事遗闻[yi4 shi4 yi2 wen2]

逸闻

yì wén

variant of 軼聞|轶闻[yi4 wen2]

遐迩闻名

xiá ěr wén míng

see 聞名遐邇|闻名遐迩[wen2 ming2 xia2 er3]

远近闻名

yuǎn jìn wén míng

to be known far and wide

丑闻

chǒu wén

scandal

难闻

nán wén

unpleasant smell

头条新闻

tóu tiáo xīn wén