奶罩 (nǎi zhào) — bra | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Colloquial word for a bra — literally 'milk cover'. More common in casual speech than the standard 胸罩 (xiōngzhào).

noun

bra

Measure word · 件

Examples

奶罩。
Tā zuó tiān zài shāng chǎng mǎi le yí gè xīn nǎi zhào.
She bought a new bra at the mall yesterday.
奶罩。
Zhè ge nǎi zhào de chǐ cùn bù hé shì.
The size of this bra is not suitable.
奶罩。
Qǐng bǎ nǎi zhào fàng zài yī guì lǐ.
Please put the bra in the wardrobe.

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.

奶 refers to the breast and 罩 means a cover, so 奶罩 is a cover for the breast.

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.

女乃奶

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

乃

乃nǎi奶nǎi

Same sound today

奶 combines 女, a woman, and 乃, which gives the sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

罒卓罩

Meaning part形符xíngfú

罒Written in full as网wǎng

Sound part声符shēngfú

卓

卓zhuó罩zhào

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

罩 combines 罒, a form of 网 “net”, with 卓, which gives the sound.

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