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大肚子 (dà dù zi) — (colloquial) pregnant woman; potbelly; protruding belly; (colloquial) big eater; glutton

Definition

A colloquial noun with three distinct senses: a pregnant woman, a potbelly (the belly itself), or a glutton/big eater — context alone tells them apart. Only the physical-belly sense is neutral; the other two are mildly jokey or teasing.

noun
(colloquial) pregnant womanpotbellyprotruding belly(colloquial) big eaterglutton
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 大肚子，。
    Tā shì gè dà dù zi, kuài yào shēng le.
    She is a pregnant woman, about to give birth.
  • ，大肚子。
    Tā zhōng nián fā fú, yǒu le gè dà dù zi.
    He got middle-aged spread and developed a potbelly.
  • ，大肚子。
    Tā fàn liàng hěn dà, shì gè dà dù zi.
    He has a big appetite; he's a big eater.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

大肚big belly
大dàbig肚dùbelly
偏正Modifier + head
子zǐbelly ending

大 describes size, 肚 is belly, and 子 completes the everyday word for belly.

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 →

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
⺼Written in full as肉ròu
Sound part声符shēngfú
土
土tǔ肚dù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side ⺼ is 肉 (flesh), marking body parts like belly; the right side 土 gives the pronunciation.

Open 肚 →

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →
Appears in
Body PartsPeople (General)

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