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爵士 (jué shì) — (noun) jazz; (noun) knight, sir (a title in British honors)

Definition

In modern Chinese, 爵士 usually means 'jazz' (the music genre). The 'knight / sir' sense — the lowest British hereditary honor — is rare and mostly seen in historical or honorary contexts.

noun
jazzknightsir (a title in British honors)

Examples

  • 爵士。
    Wǒ zuì jìn xǐ huan shàng le jué shì yīn yuè.
    I've taken a liking to jazz music recently.
  • 爵士。
    Zhè jiā jiǔ bā měi gè zhōu mò dōu yǒu jué shì biǎo yǎn.
    This bar has jazz performances every weekend.
  • 2010爵士。
    Tā zài 2010 nián bèi shòu yǔ le jué shì tóu xián.
    He was awarded a knighthood in 2010.

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.

爵juérank
士shìperson

爵 gives rank and 士 gives person for a knight.

Characters in this word

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

爵 originally pictured a sparrow-shaped wine vessel, sometimes with a hand holding it. In the modern form, the vessel's parts were reshaped and separated.

Open 爵 →

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

The shape 士 comes from a simple drawing of a war axe. The character later came to mean a soldier, officer, or intellectual.

Open 士 →
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