尾花 (wěi huā) — decorative tailpiece or filler design in print publishing

Definition

A 尾花 (wěihuā) is a small decorative drawing placed at the end of a printed article — a visual flourish, not part of the text. It's a typography/print-design term, not a general word for flowers.

noun
decorative tailpiece or filler design in print publishing

Examples

  • 尾花。
    Zhè běn zá zhì měi piān wén zhāng hòu miàn dōu yǒu yì fú wěi huā.
    Every article in this magazine has a tailpiece at the end.
  • 尾花。
    wěi huā De shè jì yào yǔ wén zhāng fēng gé xié tiáo.
    The tailpiece design should coordinate with the article's style.
  • 尾花。
    Pái bǎn shí yào zhù yì wěi huā de wèi zhì hé dà xiǎo.
    When typesetting, pay attention to the position and size of the tailpiece.

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.

花huādecoration

尾 “tail” + 花 “decoration” describes a decorative filler at the end.

Characters in this word

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

The form 尾 combines 尸 (person) and 毛 (hair; feather).

Open 尾 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
化
Same sound today

花 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 化, which gives the sound.

Open 花 →

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