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大名 (Dà míng) — (polite) your name; one's formal personal name

Definition

Polite, slightly formal way to ask or refer to someone's name — 'your name' with deference. Equivalent to asking 'May I have your name?' rather than the neutral 名字.

idiom
(polite) your nameone's formal personal name

Examples

  • 大名，。
    Jiǔ yǎng Dà míng, jīn rì zhōng yú jiàn dào nín le.
    I've long admired your name; today I finally meet you.
  • ？
    Qǐng wèn nín de dà míng?
    May I ask your name? (polite)
  • 大名。
    Wǒ zǎo jiù tīng shuō guò nín de Dà míng le.
    I've heard your name long ago.

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.

大dàgreat
名míngname

大 means great and 名 means name, together giving the sense of a person's formal name.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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 →
Appears in
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