乌纱帽 (wū shā mào) — (figurative) official post, government position; (historical) black gauze cap worn by officials

Definition

Literally the black gauze cap officials wore in imperial China; today 乌纱帽 is a metaphor for an official's position, as in 丢乌纱帽 ('lose one's job in government').

noun
(figurative) official postgovernment position(historical) black gauze cap worn by officials

Examples

  • 乌纱帽，。
    Tā wèi le bǎo zhù wū shā mào, shén me dōu yuàn yì zuò.
    He would do anything to keep his official post.
  • 乌纱帽。
    Zhè cì fǔ bài àn ràng hǎo jǐ gè guān yuán diū le wū shā mào.
    This corruption case caused several officials to lose their positions.
  • 乌纱帽。
    Gǔ dài guān yuán shàng cháo shí dōu yào dài wū shā mào.
    In ancient times, officials had to wear black gauze caps when attending court.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

乌纱black gauze
乌wūblack纱shāgauze
偏正Modifier + head
帽màocap

乌纱 gives the black gauze material, and 帽 gives the cap itself.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 烏; 乌 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 烏 is a drawing of a bird. The simplified 乌 is a later abbreviation.

Open 乌 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 紗; 纱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìthread
Sound part声符shēngfú
沙
沙shā紗shā
Same sound today

The traditional form 紗 uses 糸 to mark a thread-related meaning and 沙 for the sound. The modern simplified 纱 is a shortened form.

Open 纱 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
巾巾jīncloth
Sound part声符shēngfú
冒
冒mào帽mào
Same sound today

帽 uses 巾 (cloth) for the meaning and 冒 for the sound. The earlier form 冃 was later written with 目 and 巾 added.

Open 帽 →

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