封皮 (fēng pí) — book cover; envelope; paper wrapping or seal

Definition

封皮 is the outer paper layer that covers or wraps an item — a book's cover, an envelope, or packaging paper. Note it is a general wrapping term, not specific to books.

noun
book coverenvelopepaper wrapping or seal
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 封皮。
    Zhè běn xiǎo shuō de fēng pí shì hóng sè de.
    The cover of this novel is red.
  • 封皮，。
    Qǐng bǎ xìn fàng jìn fēng pí lǐ, rán hòu tiē shàng yóu piào.
    Please put the letter in an envelope, then stick on a stamp.
  • 封皮。
    Zhè ge bāo guǒ de fēng pí yǐ jīng pò le.
    The wrapping of this package is already torn.

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.

封fēngseal
皮pícovering

封 (seal) and 皮 (covering) name a sealing covering.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
寸寸cùnhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
丰
丰fēng封fēng
Same sound today

The shape 封 is 丰 plus 土 (earth) plus 寸 (hand); 丰 was originally drawn as a tree seedling.

Open 封 →

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

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

Open 皮 →

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