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整容 (zhěng róng) — to undergo plastic surgery, to have cosmetic surgery; (colloquial) to fix oneself up, to spruce up

Definition

整容 literally means 'reshape one's appearance' — its main sense is cosmetic/plastic surgery. Colloquially it also means to spruce oneself up (hair, makeup) before an event.

verb
to undergo plastic surgeryto have cosmetic surgery(colloquial) to fix oneself upto spruce up

Examples

  • ，整容。
    Tā duì zì jǐ bí zi bú tài mǎn yì, suǒ yǐ qù zhěng róng le.
    She wasn't happy with her nose, so she got plastic surgery.
  • ，，。
    Wǒ jiě jie zhěng guò liǎng cì róng, yí cì shì yǎn jing, yí cì shì xià ba.
    My sister had plastic surgery twice — once on her eyes and once on her chin.
  • ，整容。
    Cān jiā hūn lǐ qián, tā huā le yí gè xiǎo shí zhěng róng zì jǐ.
    Before the wedding, she spent an hour sprucing herself up.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

整zhěngtidy
容róngappearance

整 tidy plus 容 appearance gives sprucing up or cosmetic surgery.

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
敕敕chì
Sound part声符shēngfú
正
正zhèng整zhěng
Same sound today

整 pairs 敕 as the meaning side with 正 as the sound side.

Open 整 →

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
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
公
公gōng容róng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 容, the 宀 (roof) part points to holding or containing, and 公 gives the sound.

Open 容 →
Appears in
Medicine & Treatment

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