男厕 (nán cè) — men's restroom, men's toilet

Definition

Short, practical sign-style term for the men's restroom. Pairs with the measure word 个; 女厕 is the women's restroom.

noun

men's restroommen's toilet

Measure word · 个

男厕？
Qǐng wèn nán cè zài nǎ lǐ?
Excuse me, where is the men's restroom?
男厕。
nán cè De biāo zhì shì lán sè de.
The sign for the men's restroom is blue.
男厕。
Zhè ge shāng chǎng de nán cè zài èr lóu.
The men's restroom in this mall is on the second floor.

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.

男 gives male and 厕 gives toilet, so the word means a toilet for men.

Characters in this word

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

田力男

男 is made from 田, a field, and 力, strength. It shows a man working with strength in a field.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 廁; 厕 is its simplified writing.

广則廁

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

則

則zé廁cè

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

The traditional form 廁 is made from 广 and 則; 則 gives the sound, and 广 relates to the meaning. The simplified 厕 is a later shorthand.

Appears in