小腹 (xiǎo fù) — lower abdomen, underbelly

Definition

noun
lower abdomenunderbelly

Examples

  • 小腹,。
    Tā zuì jìn zǒng shì xiǎo fù téng tòng, yīng gāi qù kàn yī shēng.
    She's been having pain in her lower abdomen lately; she should see a doctor.
  • 小腹。
    Duō zuò xiǎo fù yùn dòng kě yǐ bāng zhù jiǎn diào nà lǐ de zhī fáng.
    Doing more lower abdomen exercises can help reduce fat there.
  • 小腹,。
    Tā de xiǎo fù míng xiǎn lóng qǐ, xiàng shì chī dé tài duō le.
    His lower abdomen protrudes noticeably, as if he ate too much.

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.

腹fùbelly

Small and belly combine to mean the lower abdomen.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

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
肉肉ròumeat; flesh
Sound part声符shēngfú
复
复fù腹⁰fù
Same sound today

The left part 肉, meaning flesh, shows this is a body part, and the right part 复 gives the sound.

Open 腹 →
Appears in

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