燕尾服 (yàn wěi fú) — swallowtail coat, tailcoat

Definition

noun

swallowtail coattailcoat

Measure word · 件

燕尾服。
Tā chuān le yí jiàn hēi sè yàn wěi fú cān jiā wǎn yàn.
He wore a black tailcoat to the dinner party.
，燕尾服，。
Hūn lǐ shàng, xīn láng chuān de shì yàn wěi fú, kàn qǐ lái hěn shuài qì.
At the wedding, the groom wore a tailcoat and looked very handsome.
燕尾服，。
Zhè jiàn yàn wěi fú shì shǒu gōng zhì zuò de, zuò gōng fēi cháng jīng xì.
This tailcoat is handmade, and the craftsmanship is very fine.

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.

燕尾swallow tail

偏正Modifier + head

“燕” and “尾” form “swallow tail,” describing the coat’s split tail, and “服” is the garment.

Characters in this word

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

燕 comes from a picture of a swallow.

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

尸毛尾

The form 尾 combines 尸 (person) and 毛 (hair; feather).

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

𠬝

𠬝𠬝服fú

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

In 服, the part 𠬝 was the original picture for 'to subdue'; the added left part 凡, a tray, later changed shape.

Appears in