卫生间 (wèi shēng jiān) — bathroom, toilet

Definition

Formal word for 'bathroom / toilet', common on signs and in public places. More polite than 厕所; 洗手间 is the everyday spoken equivalent.

noun

bathroomtoilet

Measure word · 间

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.

卫生hygiene

动宾Verb + object

卫生 “hygiene” plus 间 “room” gives a room for hygiene.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 衛; 卫 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

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.

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in