TongTong
Sign in

女式 (nǚ shì) — women's (used before nouns, especially for clothing and accessories)

Definition

adjective
women's (used before nouns, especially for clothing and accessories)

Examples

  • 女式。
    Tā xǐ huan chuān nǚ shì yī fu.
    She likes to wear women's clothing.
  • 女式。
    Zhè jiā diàn zhī mài nǚ shì xié.
    This store only sells women's shoes.
  • 女式。
    Wǒ mǎi le yí gè nǚ shì bāo.
    I bought a women's bag.

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.

女nǚwomen
式shìstyle

女 means women and 式 means style or type, so the word describes something made for women.

Characters in this word

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

女 shows a woman with folded arms, kneeling or standing. In the modern form the figure faces right, and the small enclosed part is what is left of one arm.

Open 女 →

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
工工gōngwork
Sound part声符shēngfú
弋
弋yì式shì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

式 pairs 工, meaning work, with 弋, which gives the sound.

Open 式 →
Appears in
Clothing

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