俯身 (fǔ shēn) — to stoop; to bend over (one's body) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literary verb meaning 'to stoop, bend one's body forward' — usually to reach, look at, or pick up something low. More formal than the everyday 弯腰.

verb

to stoopto bend over (one's body)

Examples

俯身。
Tā fǔ shēn jiǎn qǐ dì shàng de yào shi.
He bent over to pick up the keys on the floor.
。
Tā fǔ xià shēn zi kàn le kàn zhuō zi xià miàn.
He bent down and looked under the table.
。
Tā fǔ le yí cì shēn cái kàn qīng chǔ nà ge xiǎo zì.
He bent over once before he could read that small character clearly.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

俯fǔbend down

“俯” (bend down) and “身” (body) mean bending the body.

Characters in this word

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

勹勹bāoperson bending over

Sound part声符shēngfú

府

府fǔ俯fǔ

Same sound today

俯 uses 府 to show the sound fǔ and 勹 to show a person bending over; the modern left side comes from 勹.

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

The shape of 身 comes from a drawing of a pregnant woman.

Appears in

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