双眸 (shuāng móu) — a pair of eyes (literary/poetic)

Definition

Literary/poetic term for 'a pair of eyes' — confined to formal writing, poetry, and stylized prose; ordinary speech uses 眼睛 or 双眼. Always refers to two eyes as a unit.

noun
a pair of eyes (literary/poetic)

Examples

  • 双眸,。
    Tā de shuāng móu míng liàng rú xīng chén, lìng rén nán wàng.
    Her eyes were as bright as stars, unforgettable.
  • 双眸,。
    Tā shuāng móu zhōng shǎn guò yì sī bēi shāng, suí jí huī fù le píng jìng.
    A trace of sadness flashed in his eyes, then he regained his calm.
  • 。
    Nà shuāng shuāng móu fǎng fú néng kàn tòu rén xīn.
    Those eyes seemed able to see through people's hearts.

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.

“双” means pair and “眸” means eye, so together they picture a pair of eyes.

Characters in this word

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

双 is made of two 又 parts side by side. Repeating 又 gives the sense of a pair.

Open 双 →

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
Sound part声符shēngfú
牟
牟mù眸móu
Same sound today

The left part 目 is an eye, giving the meaning. The right part 牟 supplies the sound.

Open 眸 →
Appears in

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