外皮 (wài pí) — (of living organisms) epidermis, outer skin; (o…

Definition

noun

(of living organisms) epidermisouter skin(of objects) outer layercrustrind

Measure word · 层

外皮。
Rén de wài pí yóu shàng pí zǔ zhī gòu chéng.
The human epidermis is composed of epithelial tissue.
外皮。
Zhè ge miàn bāo de wài pí kǎo dé tài yìng le.
The crust of this bread is baked too hard.
外皮。
Bāo diào jú zi wài pí cái néng chī lǐ miàn de guǒ ròu.
You have to peel off the orange rind to eat the fruit inside.

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.

外 means outside and 皮 means skin or peel, giving the outer covering.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

月

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

外 pairs 卜 with 月, a crescent moon; in its older form, the 卜 part had a horizontal bar extending outward, giving the sense of outside.

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

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

Appears in