名句 (míng jù) — famous quote; well-known saying (typically literary or historical)

Definition

A 'famous quote or well-known line', typically a literary or classical sentence memorable enough to be quoted on its own (e.g. a line of poetry).

noun
famous quotewell-known saying (typically literary or historical)
Measure word · 句
Easily confused

Examples

  • “”名句。
    "Chuáng qián míng yuè guāng" shì yí jù qiān gǔ míng jù.
    "Before my bed the moonlight is bright" is a timeless famous line.
  • 名句。
    Zhè piān wén zhāng yǐn yòng le xǔ duō gǔ diǎn míng jù.
    This essay quotes many classical famous lines.
  • 名句。
    Lǎo shī ràng wǒ men bèi sòng zhè xiē míng jù.
    The teacher asked us to memorize these famous quotes.

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.

名míngfamous
句jùphrase

名 (famous) and 句 (phrase) form a well-known saying.

Characters in this word

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

名 puts 夕 (crescent moon) above 口 (mouth), showing a name spoken in the dark.

Open 名 →

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
丩丩jiūto entangle
Sound part声符shēngfú
口
口kǒu句jù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

句 pairs 丩, originally two entangled ropes and giving a sense of entangling, with 口 as the sound part.

Open 句 →

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