市貌 (shì mào) — cityscape; urban appearance; the look and feel of a city

Definition

市貌 (shì mào) refers to the overall look of a city — its buildings, streets, and general appearance as a whole. Often paired with 改善 or 整洁 in news writing about urban development.

noun
cityscapeurban appearancethe look and feel of a city
Easily confused

Examples

  • 市貌。
    Zhè ge chéng shì de shì mào yuè lái yuè měi le.
    This city's appearance is getting more and more beautiful.
  • 市貌。
    Shì zhèng fǔ zhèng zài nǔ lì gǎi shàn shì mào.
    The city government is working hard to improve the cityscape.
  • 市貌。
    Zhè ge chéng shì de shì mào hěn zhěng jié.
    This city's appearance is very clean and tidy.

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.

市shìcity
貌màoappearance

市 means city and 貌 means appearance, so the word names the look of a city.

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
兮兮xībustling
Sound part声符shēngfú
之
之zhī市shì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The old form 市 pairs 兮, meaning bustling, with 之, the sound part.

Open 市 →

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
皃皃màolooks
Sound part声符shēngfú
豹
豹bào貌
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

貌 uses 皃, an older picture of a face, to show looks, and 豹 as a sound part.

Open 貌 →

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