汗毛 (hàn máo) — fine body hair, vellus hair

Definition

noun

fine body hairvellus hair

Measure word · 根

汗毛。
Tā xià dé hàn máo dōu shù qǐ lái le.
He was so scared his hair stood on end.
汗毛。
Tā de shǒu bì shàng yǒu xì xì de hàn máo.
She has fine hair on her arms.
汗毛。
Yǒu xiē rén huì guā diào liǎn shàng de hàn máo.
Some people shave off the fine hair on their face.

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.

汗 means sweat, and 毛 means hair, so together they mean fine body hair.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

干

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

汗 has 水, the water form, beside 干; 水 relates to liquid sweat, while 干 gives the sound.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

毛 is drawn as a feather or hair, with its strokes tracing the shape of the feather or hair.

Appears in