接吻 (jiē wěn) — to kiss (on the lips) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A verb-object phrase meaning 'to kiss (on the lips)'. Use 吻 alone for figurative or literary 'kiss', or as a noun (一个吻).

verb

to kiss (on the lips)

Examples

接吻。
Tā men zài gōng yuán lǐ jiē wěn.
They kissed in the park.
。
Tā gēn tā jiē guò yí cì wěn.
She kissed him once.
接吻。
Diàn yǐng lǐ de nán nǚ zhǔ jué shēn qíng dì jiē wěn.
The male and female leads in the movie kissed passionately.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

'接' means to touch and '吻' means lips, so together they mean to touch lips in a kiss.

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.

扌妾接

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

妾

妾qiè接jiē

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

The left part 扌 shows a hand, matching the sense of receiving something in the hand, while 妾 gives the character its sound.

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

口勿吻

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

勿

勿wù吻wěn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

吻 pairs 口 (mouth) with 勿, which gives the sound.

Appears in

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