yearn

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 慕 has 14 strokes, the on-reading ぼ, and the kun-reading したう. 慕う (したう) means to admire or long for.
• Basic usage: 慕う describes following someone out of admiration or longing for home; 思慕 (しぼ) names the longing or adoration held in the heart.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• The object of admiration and the longing felt
  • 教師を慕って集まった means that students gathered out of admiration for their teacher. 故郷を慕う気持ち means a feeling of longing for home.
  • 故郷への思慕 refers to longing for home recorded by a traveler in a diary. 亡き師に抱く思慕 means adoration held for a late teacher.