姿 (zī) — posture, carriage; appearance, looks | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Bound morpheme used in set compounds like 姿势 (posture) and 姿态 (attitude/pose); on its own it never stands alone as a word.

bound form

posturecarriageappearancelooks

Examples

。
Tā de wǔ zī fēi cháng yōu měi.
Her dancing posture is very graceful.
。
Tā xué yóu yǒng de zī shì hěn biāo zhǔn.
His swimming posture is very standard.
。
Tā bǎo chí duān zhèng de zī tài.
She maintains a proper posture/attitude.

Origin

Sound + meaning

六书liùshū

形声xíngshēng

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

次女姿

Meaning part形符xíngfú

女女nǚwoman

Sound part声符shēngfú

次

次cì姿zī

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

姿 pairs 女, meaning woman, with 次, which gives the sound.

Appears in

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