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前卫 (qián wèi) — avant-garde; cutting-edge (in art, fashion, ideas); vanguard; advance guard (military)

Definition

Literally 'forward guard': the leading edge of a movement. In art, fashion, or music it means avant-garde or cutting-edge — bold styles that push ahead of the mainstream.

noun
avant-gardecutting-edge (in art, fashion, ideas)vanguardadvance guard (military)

Examples

  • 前卫，。
    Tā de fú zhuāng shè jì fēi cháng qián wèi, dà dǎn yòu xīn yǐng.
    Her clothing designs are very avant-garde — bold and innovative.
  • 前卫，。
    Zhè zhī yuè duì de yīn yuè fēng gé hěn qián wèi, bú tài róng yì bèi dà zhòng jiē shòu.
    This band's musical style is very avant-garde and not easily accepted by the mainstream.
  • ，前卫。
    Zài jūn shì shǐ shàng, qián wèi bù duì fù zé zhēn chá hé kāi lù.
    In military history, vanguard units are responsible for reconnaissance and clearing the way.

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.

前qiánfront
卫wèiguard

前 'front' and 卫 'guard' combine to mean the guard in front, hence a leading group.

Characters in this word

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

In the older form of 前, 止 (foot) and 舟 (boat) showed a foot on a boat moving forward; in the current 前 those parts are shortened.

Open 前 →

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 衛; 卫 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
行行xíng
Sound part声符shēngfú
韋
韋wéi衛wèi
Same sound today

The traditional form 衛 is built from 行 as the sense part and 韋 as the sound part; the simplified 卫 is a shorthand.

Open 卫 →
Appears in
Art & Fine ArtsMilitary & Defense

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