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制服 (zhì fú) — uniform (for military, school, etc.); livery (for company employees)

Definition

制服 (zhìfú) is a noun meaning 'uniform' — clothing that identifies a role, like police, military, school, or company. The verb sense ('to subdue') uses a different pronunciation context; this row is the clothing sense.

noun
uniform (for military, school, etc.)livery (for company employees)
Measure word · 套

Examples

  • 制服。
    Jǐng chá dōu chuān zhuó zhì fú.
    Policemen all wear uniforms.
  • 制服。
    Zhè tào zhì fú shì gōng sī fā de.
    This uniform is issued by the company.
  • 制服。
    Xué shēng měi tiān dōu yào chuān zhì fú shàng xué.
    Students have to wear uniforms to school every day.

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.

制zhìregulation
服fúclothing

制 points to a set regulation or system, and 服 is clothing, so the word names clothes prescribed by that system.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The form 制 pairs 朱 (tree) with 刀 (knife), showing the act of cutting a tree.

Open 制 →

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
凡凡fántray
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠬝
𠬝𠬝服fú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 服, the part 𠬝 was the original picture for 'to subdue'; the added left part 凡, a tray, later changed shape.

Open 服 →
Appears in
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