夏装 (xià zhuāng) — summer clothing; summer wear

Definition

noun

summer clothingsummer wear

Measure word · 件

Easily confused

夏装。
Zhè jiā diàn mài de xià zhuāng kuǎn shì hěn xīn.
The summer clothing sold in this store has very new styles.
，夏装。
Dào le wǔ yuè, rén men dōu huàn shàng xià zhuāng le.
When May comes, everyone changes into summer wear.
夏装。
Tā mǎi le jǐ jiàn piào liang de xià zhuāng.
She bought several pieces of beautiful summer clothing.

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.

夏 (summer) specifies 装 (clothing), meaning clothes worn in summer.

Characters in this word

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

Some scholars connect 夏 to 日 (sun) and 頁 (head; man), reading it as a man under the sun, but this is uncertain.

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 裝; 装 is its simplified writing.

壯衣裝

Meaning part形符xíngfú

衣衣yīclothes

Sound part声符shēngfú

壯

壯zhuàng裝zhuāng

Same sound today

The traditional form 裝 pairs 衣 (clothes) with 壯 as a sound part; this story is about 裝, not the simplified 装.