坎肩 (kǎn jiān) — sleeveless jacket; vest; waistcoat

Definition

坎肩 refers to a sleeveless upper-body garment — similar to a vest or waistcoat — typically worn over a shirt or sweater for warmth. The word is more traditional/Chinese-style than the modern 背心 (bèixīn, also 'vest').

noun
sleeveless jacketvestwaistcoat
Measure word · 件

Examples

  • 坎肩。
    Tā chuān zhuó yí jiàn hēi sè kǎn jiān.
    He is wearing a black sleeveless jacket.
  • 坎肩，。
    Zhè jiàn kǎn jiān shì yòng yáng máo zuò de, hěn nuǎn huo.
    This vest is made of wool and is very warm.
  • ，坎肩。
    Tiān lěng shí, wǒ zài chèn shān wài miàn jiā yí jiàn kǎn jiān.
    When it's cold, I put a waistcoat over my shirt.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

坎kǎncut/notch
肩jiānshoulder

坎肩 names a vest: 坎 suggests a cut or notch, and 肩 is the shoulder, giving a cut-shoulder garment.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth; soil
Sound part声符shēngfú
欠
欠qiàn坎
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

坎 is made from 土 (earth; soil) plus 欠 as the sound part.

Open 坎 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

肩 combines a shoulder shape with a flesh part to show a shoulder.

Open 肩 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.