春色 (chūn sè) — spring scenery; cheerful or radiant look (on one's face); (literary) sensual or erotic scenes

Definition

Literary term literally meaning 'spring scenery' but used figuratively for a cheerful, radiant look on a face. The third sense (sensual/erotic scenes) is a literary usage seen mainly in older fiction.

noun
spring scenerycheerful or radiant look (on one's face)(literary) sensual or erotic scenes

Examples

  • 春色。
    Zhè ge gōng yuán de chūn sè tè bié mí rén.
    The spring scenery in this park is especially charming.
  • 春色，。
    Tā miàn dài chūn sè, xīn qíng hěn hǎo.
    His face had a cheerful look, and he was in a good mood.
  • 春色。
    Xiǎo shuō lǐ de chūn sè miáo xiě hěn dà dǎn.
    The novel's descriptions of sensual scenes are very bold.

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.

春chūnspring
色sècolor or appearance

"春" denotes spring, and "色" denotes color or appearance, together giving spring scenery or radiant look.

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
艸艸cǎograss
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
屯
屯tún春chūn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

春 combines 艸 (grass) and 日 (sun) with 屯, which supplies the sound and is described as a swollen sprout.

Open 春 →

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

  • 爪爪zhuǎclaw; hand
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

色 pairs 爪 (a hand) with 卩 (a kneeling person), showing a hand pressing down on the kneeling person.

Open 色 →

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